Xtreme Snow Pros Adds Additional Machines to Meet Mounting Client Demand

It’s no secret that the 2018 winter season has been a fun but a rough one too. It could potentially go on for another month, but reflecting on the last 5-months, it has been a winter that many will forever remember. As the winter weather, snow, ice, and other dangerous materials fell from the sky, more and more business owners reached out to us, looking for our commercial property support. Personal injury lawsuits can break a business, and we work to ensure that everyone is happy and safe on commercial properties, starting with our proprietary winter weather clearing services and of course, machines.

In order to keep up with the mounting demand, we proudly added new machines to our Xtreme Snow Pros fleet this winter. We are firm believers in owning our own equipment, running everything ourselves, in-house, to ensure our 24-7 commitment and support is guaranteed without having to rely on some other company. We don’t rent our equipment. We go out and buy it, managing every part and inspecting the machines weekly to ensure they will perform when performance really counts.

JCB Loaders

To answer the call, our team bought a large amount of JCB loaders, both of the medium and large duty sizes, to help cover every property in our service region. JCB even flew our owner, Chris Marino, down to look at the machines in person, analyzing if they were the right fit for our fleet. Chris was able to work with JCB, collaborate, and really mull over options before the right machines were selected.

JCB has been an incredible company to work with, always showing their support for our operation and supplying us with top quality equipment that will never falter or succumb to the intimidating winter weather. We have purchased dozens of machines from their operation over the past few years, and intend to do so during the coming years.

Chris proudly brought back our new JCBs to rev up our offerings and expand our clientele. It can be hard to predict what kind of winter lies ahead, but it’s always better to be safe rather than sorry. Although you might be tired of the cold, sleet, wind, and snow, it can come out of left field and leave everyone off guard. We take care of your commercial property so you can focus on what really counts: running your business and improving revenue. One of the best ways to do that is to circumvent personal injury lawsuits, which is what we can guarantee with our 24-7 winter clearing support and technological infrastructure that gives us live updates of wintry conditions.

Our team is here to support you.

Xtreme Snow Pros Attends The 2017 ASCA Executive Summit

We had the pleasure of attending this year’s Accredited Snow Contractors Association Executive Summit, held from August 2 to the 4th at the Grand Summit Hotel in Park City, Utah. Constantly looking for opportunities to learn more about our industry and best snow and ice management practices for clients, the ASCA Executive Summit is always a wealth of information regarding every winter weather management requirement.

As an annual conference that is focused on the business needs of the snow industry, the ASCA Executive Summit always brings in dynamic speakers to discuss the industry and how participants can improve their respective business operations. This year’s summit addressed the business management topics that every business faces how to better communicate with employees, increase bottom lines, and reach potential customers.

Event Sessions

This year, we had access to high-level education that focused on the economy, sales and marketing, lawsuit and protection, and culture building of the snow and ice removal industries. Sessions we attended included the U.S. Economy and How It Will Impact Small Business, which looked at present and future factors that will have an impact on how we operate in New Jersey and New York; How to Become the Wikipedia of Your Industry to Build Your Brand Business, which looked at building online trust with consumers and how this kind of branding can position a business as the go-to option; Lawsuit Protection for Both Your Personal & Business Assets, which was a hands-on presentation that focused on asset protection for business owners and key employees; and The Practical and Sustainable Way to Build a High-Performance Culture, which taught us how to create the culture we want to have at Xtreme Snow Pros.

In addition to the high-quality talks and workshops, the Executive Summit also hosted Snow Magazine’s annual Leadership Awards and Top 100 ceremony, awards of which Xtreme Snow Pros were able to take home. The awards ceremony recognized snow industry professionals for their leadership within the industry as well as within their own personal organization.

Like every ASCA event, our team was met with an abundance of new information that our executive team is already integrating into our structure. They plan to adopt new management practices and refined equipment for expediting all of our processes this winter.

Team experts grow with ASCA certifications

Snow doesn’t disappear without the help of a quality commercial snow removal team.

There are many factors at play when Xtreme Snow Pros hits the streets and parking lots, snow plows down at full speed. This commercial snow and ice removal company company has a team of experts working for clients at every level.

The Snow Pros team recently had three members earn ASCA certification: Meg Shute, John Hinton and Chris Marino.

Chris is the owner and founder of Xtreme Snow Pros, which bases its fleet out of Ringwood, New Jersey.. Chris and his wife started Snow Pros, which spawned four other white and green industry companies in The Xtreme Group in Mahwah, N.J. Snow has been a part of Chris’ life since he was a child growing up in New Jersey. Xtreme Snow Pros now serves the needs of commercial clients across New Jersey, New York and Pennsylvania.

Meg joined the Xtreme Snow Pros team in November 2015. She serves as office administrator, handling billing, payroll and human resources duties. In the event of a snowstorm, she plays a crucial role as dispatcher for the Snow Special Forces Unit, interacting with the snow command team and site supervisor specialists.

John Hinton’s career began with Snow Pros in 2012. He served as a snow site supervisor until he became a fleet technical specialist in April 2015. John manages the fleet during the peak snow event season and in between.

What is ASCA certification?

The ASCA, or Accredited Snow Contractors Association, provides specialized certification for those in the snow industry. As one of the top 100 snow contractors in North American, Xtreme Snow Pros ensures team members such as Chris, John and Meg receive the education they need to solidify their knowledge of the industry. This certification drives home the weekly training Xtreme provides in house.

Chris Marino finds these certifications serve clients well. “The certifications give our clients the confidence that we are highly trained to be able to provide our clients with the level of expertise they expect as well as provide them with a safe environment.”

A working knowledge of safety standards ensures competitive rates and efficient service for all Snow Pros clients. Most of the educational material covers risk management, an important skill for any industry like snow and ice removal.

Certification is an eight-hour process of education and testing that ensures a broad grasp of snow industry knowledge they can apply in their daily work. These three aren’t the only team members Xtreme plans have ASCA certified.

“Our plan is for all of our management as well as snow commanders and site supervisor specialists to become certified,” Marino said.

Chris, John and Meg’s certifications mark the second time this year that an Xtreme team member has been certified in 2016. This past winter, Glenn Kramer, Xtreme’s operations manager and a former New York firefighter, received his ASCA credentials.

ASCA Executive Summit

Xtreme’s winter warriors will measure up at ASCA’s Sandy Summit

If there’s any way to measure just how far Xtreme Snow Pros’ of Mahwah, New Jersey operation has come, Snow Magazine’s Top 100 is a good place to start.

For the last four years, Xtreme has measured up as a top 100 snow and ice removal contracting company. Owner, Chris Marino, expects that Xtreme and its commitment to excellence and growth with be included on that list again in 2016.

The top 100 contractors list is a revenue-based ranking compiled by Snow Magazine. Xtreme Snow Pros has worked its way up the list over the years. Marino’s company appeared on the top 100 list in 2012.  In 2013, it was 74th. With a slight dip in 2014’s rankings to 86th, Xtreme rebounded to 52nd in 2015. This list has become one of the central fixtures at the annual Accredited Snow Contractors Association Executive Summits.

“My whole family will be attending the summit with me this season and they are able to attend the awards ceremony for the Top 100 snow contractors in North America,” he said. “We applied again this season and are hopeful to win (a spot on the list) again.”

Innovation over the past few years has helped Xtreme become one of the premier New Jersey / New York commercial snow and ice removal contractors. The Executive Summit, Marino said, only sets the company on course for bigger and better things.

“The biggest take off each year that I get from this is the power of networking with great friends from all over the U.S. and as far as Alaska and all the provinces of Canada,” Marino explained. “By networking, I am able to share ideas of how we do things as well as learn a wealth of information from industry professionals.”

The 2016 Executive Summit changes setting this year from the snow-cultured northern Vermont mountains of 2015 at Stowe Mountain Lodge to the tropical tides of Sanibel Harbour Marriott Resort & Spa in Fort Myers, Florida.

“During the winter, we are bound to the area by being on call 24/7 for five months, so it is nice to be able to have my family attend along with me at the industry event,” he said.

Preparation for winter – and election season

Beyond networking, the summit provides programming for contractors to learn more about what affects their business from professionals and analysts across several industries. David Crow, who is president of a Washington, D.C. bipartisan lobbying firm, will present a unique perspective on how the upcoming presidential election could affect small businesses such as those in commercial snow and ice management.

Presidential elections, historically, affect small, family-owned businesses, such as Xtreme Snow Pros, in positive and negative ways. The wrong decision about hiring or purchasing can have chilling effects on companies, which is why most take a wait-and-see approach. Xtreme takes the opportunity to have a more proactive approach to planning for the future. Its clients around the Metropolitan Area have come to depend upon faithful and timely service, which won’t be betrayed by a lack of preparation.

Presentations, such as Crow’s, have been key to Xtreme Snow Pros’ success and consistent appearance on the Top 100 list.

Overall, Marino relishes the opportunity the Executive Summit provides. “The biggest thing I have gotten from the past is making new friends with industry professionals whom I can lean on during the year if I have a question or an idea.”

A closer shave for Old Man Winter

Xtreme Snow Pros has staked its reputation in the Metropolitan area on innovative methods of snow and ice removal. From converting old military vehicles into winter warriors to ascending to the technological high ground with drones, Xtreme Snow Pros is always looking for an edge in its New Jersey operation.

In the case of plows, it’s a literal edge being sought.

Xtreme Snow Pros has introduced new plow technology to the snow pusher fleet with Live Edge Technology. Live Edge employs spring-loaded plates that adjust to uneven terrain and removes more snow than traditional plows.

In ancient civilizations, man used crude blades designed for hair removal, but the technology has evolved. There now are commercials promising the closest shave with blades that undulate across the contours of necks, jaws and shins, leaving silky patches in their wakes. Live Edge, essentially, is like a modern razor for roads and parking lots.

Consider concrete and asphalt the skin of your property. Layers of this material make it possible for roads and parking lot to be passable when seasonal elements rain down on it. Vehicles and commerce depend on the these tough skins.

Much like skin, it has certain sensitivities. It can only take so much before it chaps and crumbles. Conventional snow plow blades are much like the ancient tools used to carve smooth skin out of thickets of hair. A sure sign over the last half century that a man was running late for work were the crimson and white patches of tissue dancing around their Adam’s apples.  While cuts and razor rash were accepted for a while, technology moved forward to blades that flex against the surfaces they’re clearing.

Live Edge Technology on Xtreme Snow Pros’ snow pusher trucks mark the evolution of plow technology. It allows for more efficient and expedient removal of snow and ice. Businesses and daily commerce simply cannot afford to wait for the old technology to get the job done.

Live Edge reduces the nicks and gouges once accepted as part of the process, too. It traces along the contours of the concrete or asphalt without creating potholes or wearing down the surface unnecessarily.

A solution to chemical dependence

Using chemical deicers came to prominence in the 1950s and 1960s. Snow removal methods have become dependent on chemical deicers such as rock salt. This is because plow technology could only do so much before Live Edge came along and removed the layers salt and other chemical deicers were intended to remove.

Research has caught up to the times and shown the environmental impact of chemical deicers.

In 2015, Lake George, NY, one of the beautiful vacation destinations in the southern Adirondack Mountains, worried deicers such as salts used for snow removal posed an environmental threat to the lake’s salt levels. In Spring 2015, an effort to prevent any further salt pollution of the freshwater lake, which “had tripled over a generation,”  led to a reduction of in the use of road salts.

The Lake George area, instead, depended on the use of Live Edge while reducing road salt use by 40 percent.

The environmental concern for Lake George is that the sodium and chloride pockets in the lake and groundwater concentrations could make the water too toxic for people, wildlife and plants to consume.

Xtreme Snow Pros strives to provide environmentally friendly commercial snow removal solutions to the Metropolitan Area, and Lake George is a working example of what needs to be done to preserve the integrity of the environment.

From the commercial client angle, relying less on deicers such as salt, reduces the need for pavement repair, saving your bottom line.

For asphalt, some road salts sink between the cracks in the surface. This can exacerbate the freeze-thaw cycle, leading to greater damage to the asphalt. In the case of applying salt to concrete, the salts can sink into steel-reinforced concrete and corrode the rebar and threaten the integrity of the structure. This is much the same way road salts eat away at the metals used in automobiles. Every year, vehicle owners must be vigilant in washing the chalky layers of salt from the vehicle’s bodies or else have their investments of $20,000 or more reduced to rusted heaps before they’ve paid for them in full.

Technology has not advanced to the point salt is an obsolete tool. Road salt assists in preventing the accumulation of snow and ice after the plows have passed. Restricting the amount of salt or snow-sapping abrasives, such as the old standards of sand or cinder, will improve the health of the environment and that of automobile owners across eastern Pennsylvania, northern New Jersey and southern New York.

Live Edge Technology is one more step toward winter independence from chemical deicers. For that, Xtreme Snow Pros is proud to be at the forefront of more efficient snow removal. Check out Metal Pless to learn more about Live Edge Technology.