When you run a good company people take notice. When you provide quality service and a great product lineup, even competitors talk. That's what happened to Blu Gray founder of Valleywide Fence, Decks and Siding, in 2011.
The owner of Redmond/Real Salt Companies and founder of Best Vinyl, Vance Barrett was visiting Grand Junction and heard of Valleywide Fence from, Of All Places, a competing fence contractor. He was impressed with what he heard and decided to "meet the guy" since he was in town anyway. Vance invited Blu on a Lake Powell leadership retreat, to join in some business idea collaboration and after a few years of sharing leadership tips and ideas, the suggestion came up that maybe Redmond could buy the controlling interest in Valleywide Fencing, Siding, and Decks. A deal was struck that fit well with shared values found in both organizations. Those values are strongly embodied in the way they carry out their Share the Good program each year.
Since the change of ownership, Valleywide has participated with other Redmond groups in identifying and serving deserving families and community programs who need something better for their outdoor safety, comfort, and curb appeal.
Share the Good grew out of a desire to give back in each of the communities where Redmond Companies has a base of operations. Some projects have been done with the combined efforts of several teams on a large scale while others are smaller and require only local resources to complete. One larger project was a homeless veteran residence program in Las Vegas, Nevada which involved between 80 and 100 workers from crews in multiple states. In fact, this project was, at the time, the largest homeless shelter property for US Military veterans in the entire USA. The Las Vegas project included adding and repairing fencing where needed, building a large deck, power washed the entire building, repainted the parking lot and building several pergolas to provide shade around the swimming pool.
Redmond/Real Salt now has a controlling interest in 17 companies that all participate in their Share the Good program each year. Redmond's CEO, Rhett Roberts states the organization's community service philosophy with two simple phrases: "Givers Get" and "Elevate the Human Experience". Each company is required to seek out a family or organization in need and provide one or two projects each year with a significant impact on those being served. Another significant goal of the program is to give more than is needed and more than is expected to those truly in need. The Facebook page for each business has a feature that receives nominations for Share the Good recipients in each community served by a Redmond business. Each of the Redmond companies is expected to identify a recipient in their community for a Share the Good project, twice per year. Boone also said, "We feel like this is the best form of advertising we could do".
Among the Grand Junction recipients of this program in recent years was a single mother whose autistic son had no place secure and safe to play outside. Fencing in the back yard was inadequate to hold him safely within the yard and the necessary safety measures were also not readily available to this young mother.
When Valleywide selected this mother/son household to receive a new fence, that's what the mom expected. When the project was complete, they had a secure fence for the back yard, a new deck, a baffled awning that can open and close to let in or screen out direct sunlight on the deck and they even received an in-ground trampoline and a separate playground for the young boy to enjoy in the safety of his newly updated back yard.
Daniel "Boone" Anderson, Project Coordinator for Valleywide (GJ) is pictured with two of his clients who appreciate the value of giving back to the community through their Share the Good (STG) program. Right - Dale Beede (Commercial Realtor), Center - "Boone" (Project Coordinator - Valleywide Fence, Deck, Siding, Awnings), Left - George Bigley (GM - Bookclliff CountryClub). Boone says that like Rotary and other service organizations, Redmond operates as a "goodwill ambassador" seeking out opportunities to make a real difference in the lives of those selected to receive a Share the Good build. Many regular customers understand that part of the price they willingly pay for top quality and service goes to efforts to provide STG recipients with something that is truly life-changing.
Another local organization serving those in need is Karis Inc. They operate "The House" a safe place for homeless teens, which recently completed construction on Laurel House. This property is the largest teen-dedicated housing facility of its kind in the USA at present. Karis also operates a transition property in Grand Junction serving homeless veterans. When Rhett Roberts came to Grand Junction to see the Veterans Property he had already agreed to provide a large deck needed on the site. Upon visiting the property, he said, "That old fence is terrible. We're going to fix that too."
