May 21, 2026 • 43 mins
- On today's show Dayna talks with Dana Espinal about the upcoming SBDC Small Business Symposium at Lamar State College in Orange. And Public Adjuster/Consultant Rick Dearing joins Dayna with advice on the insurance claims process.
Listen
Watch
Mark as Played
Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:00):
Well, hello Southeast Texas. I'm so glad you are joining
us this Saturday on a wonderful Memorial Day weekend, and
while it may be a little wet out there, it's
still a great opportunity to celebrate with friends and family
and enjoy that time.
Speaker 2 (00:18):
Before we get.
Speaker 1 (00:19):
Started, I'd love to give you a little bit of
information on what is the market doing. You know, I
can't go anywhere with someone saying, Hey, Dana, what's up
in the market, So I'd like to give you a
little bit of information about where we are in our
local stats right now. Well, in April of twenty twenty five,
we closed a total of three hundred and forty nine cells. Well,
(00:42):
amazingly enough, in April of twenty twenty six, we closed
three hundred and forty nine cells. But the difference is
the total volume sold. In twenty twenty five, our total
volume was eighty almost eighty one million dollars, but in April.
Speaker 2 (00:58):
It was eighty five five.
Speaker 1 (01:00):
So we are seeing a little bit of an impact
on our local market. In twenty twenty five, the market
was quite a bit softer. We had a much larger inventory.
We had a total number of almost eighteen hundred active listings,
which is a lot. And right now in April of
(01:21):
twenty six, our total average is about fifteen hundred, so
we have fewer homes. When you have fewer homes and
more buyers, of course, that's basic economics, you have a
little bit more of an even market. Also, our average
days on market has changed a little bit. In twenty
five it was ninety five and in twenty six it's
(01:44):
one hundred and seven. But one of the most significant
differences in the two markets for me is the total
pending volume. So in April of twenty five, our total
pending volume was sixty nine million, four hundred thousand, but
this year our pending volume is seventy eight thousand, six
(02:07):
hundred thousand, so that is a really significant increase in
the total number of volume in our volume. We are
seeing a pickup in our market, a significant pickup not
only in the phone calls, but in the offers that
we're getting and the properties that are going under contract. Now,
(02:29):
while we still have a pretty big residential listing active market,
I mean we are seeing you know, fifteen hundred and
sixty six. That is still a very good market. It's
a great time for buyers to enter the market. One
of the things I love is our average list price
is about two hundred and thirty thousand dollars, So affordability
(02:50):
in Southeast Texas just can't be beat. I was visiting
with a gentleman from Abilene and he was sharing that
in Abilene right now, they only have less than two
hundred houses on the market and their average days on
market is ten days, and that is a challenge for
(03:12):
new home buyer. It's really any buyer. So for us,
you know, he said, it's a crazy market and sellers
are getting really good offers. But for me, that is
a hard place to work because it's challenging to get
a new buyer to be able to compete with other
buyers in that kind of a situation because a cash
(03:33):
buyer is going to always win, and those are the
ones who are typically getting that. So for us in
Southeast Texas, now is a great time if you are
thinking about selling or buying, and we would love the
opportunity to visit with you about that, talk to you
about what houses are selling for in your neighborhood, give
you that data. There is no cost for us to
(03:53):
do that. We love to educate our clients on the
process and just give you the information you need to
make a wise decision for you and your family. You're
welcome to call my office at four oh nine eight
sixty six eight three two six. That's four o nine
eight six sixteen, or go to the website Dana Simmons
real Estate dot com or if you want to shorten
(04:15):
it DSR dot com. Both of those websites will get
you to one of our agents who can visit with
you this weekend about property. Well, we are having a
wonderful holiday weekend, and it got me to thinking, do
we all really know why we celebrate Memorial Day? And
for a lot of people, they get it confused. You know,
Memorial Day Veteran's Day. What's the difference? So I thought
(04:37):
i'd share a little bit. I did a Google search
and thought I'd share a little bit about Memorial Day.
How it came about. Will we celebrate Memorial Day to
honor and mourn the US military personnel who died in
the line of duty. We observe it annually on the
very last Monday of May. And it was established to
remember the ultimate sacrifices made by the men and women
(05:01):
who served in the armed forces. And while it unofficially
marks the start of the summer season, the day's true
meeting is centered on solemn remembrance and gratitude. You know,
it started known as the Decoration Day, and it began
as a way to honor fallen Civil War soldiers. And
(05:22):
then people would visit cemeteries and decorate the graves of
the war dead with flowers and wreaths and flags. But
then there was a national proclamation. It was first widely
observed on May thirtieth, eighteen sixty eight, under a proclamation
by Major General John A. Logan, and he was a
(05:42):
leader of the Grand Army of the Republic. Then there
was an expansion of it. After World War One, the
holiday evolved to commemorate American military personnel who died in
all wars, including World War II, Vietnam, Korea, and then
all sub subsequent conflicts. It did not become an official
(06:04):
federal holiday until nineteen seventy one. So what are some
ways that we can observe the holiday as a memorial.
First visit memorials. Americans often visit war memorial cemeteries and
historical sites to pay their respects. You can place flags,
(06:25):
often you'll see volunteers, including veteran groups and active duty military,
place American flags on the graves of service members and
national cemeteries, and a prominent tradition is at the Arlington
National Cemetery. But I think one thing that all of
us can participate in is a national Moment of Remembrance.
(06:45):
The US observes a national Moment of Remembrance at three pm,
whatever your local time is, pausing for one minute of
silence to honor the fallen. You know, that was something
new I learned as I was searching for this, and
I thought, what a great opportunity. I'll have my kids
and grandkids with me to be able to speak on
(07:07):
what people have done to honor our country who have
given the ultimate sacrifice, and to be able to remind
them of all who have gone before to allow them
to have the freedom that they have today. So this Monday,
at three pm, would you pause for one minute of
(07:28):
silence to honor those who have fallen? Another thing is
what is the difference between Memorial Day and Veteral Day
Veterans Day, And you know it's common to confuse the two,
but they have two distinct purposes. And Memorial Day strictly
honors the military personnel who died while serving in the
(07:48):
US Armed Forces. Veterans Day honors all American military veterans,
especially those who are still living. I hope this is
helpful for you as we celebrate the weekend, and while
it's a wonderful opportunity to enjoy friends and family, I
hope you'll think on the sacrifice of those who went
before us to give us this freedom to celebrate. Well,
(08:12):
when we come back, we are going to visit with
a few guests who are here to share a little
bit more information about what they do. First, Dana Espinol,
you guys may recognize her name. She has been with
the Small Business Development Center for a very long time,
very active in our community, and excited to visit with
her about a couple of events that they have coming up.
(08:34):
Rick Deering, who is a public adjuster for Justice Claims,
will also be with us and he's going to talk
about how they advocate for policyholders when there is an
event that happens here in Southea, Texas and really all
over the United States. So don't go away, you want
to be back because you don't want to miss it.
This is the Dana Simmons show Welcome back. This is
(08:56):
Dana Simmons and we are excited to have Dana espinol.
She is with the Small Business Development Center and she
is so active in our community. And Dana, I've seen
you all over the place. I remember when the Chevron
plant was coming to Orange. You were doing all kinds
of development and helps for people who may want to
(09:18):
get involved in being a vendor for them. I mean,
you have an incredible position in our community to help
small business. So talk first, tell us a little bit
about you, and then talk a little bit about what
exactly it is that your office does well.
Speaker 2 (09:34):
The Small Business Development Center is you know, we are
the go to for people. If you're thinking about starting
a small business, give us a call. If you've been
in small business for many, many years and you're wanting
to do something, give us a call. Right. But I
have enjoyed my tenure at the Small Business Development Center.
(10:00):
I really enjoy helping others. And you know, depending on
what's going on in the community, the Small Business Development
Center is usually involved. Just like you mentioned, when the
plants were gearing up in Orange, you know, they reached
out and said we need vendors to do X Y
(10:21):
Z right, and we were community partners and we were
there helping small businesses that have been in business for
years in Orange County looking for an opportunity to do
some of the work for the plant there the Golden Triangle,
And so it is, it's fulfilling, it's really I really
(10:42):
enjoy it. And as a rotarian, you know, I like
to serve others, you know, and I have found a
niche of what I enjoy doing every day, right, and
with that comes challenges, right, So right, you have the challenges,
but it's good. It's good for the community. You know,
(11:03):
small businesses are the economic engine. You've heard me say
that absolutely, and excuse me. And I'm a believer of that,
and I want small businesses to be successful and we
need them in Southeast Texas. You know, everybody always talks
about the industry, the industry, the industry. Yes, they bring jobs,
(11:24):
but we need the quality of life right right for
those folks living here. And what does that look like, Well,
small businesses are involved in that.
Speaker 1 (11:33):
Well, it's a trickle down effect basically, because you have
the big industry that has a lot to offer, brings
the jobs, but you have to have all of the
auxiliary pieces under that, the maintenance people, the people who
provide the services for all kinds of things. And then
you have to have the businesses that provide services like
(11:54):
finding houses for people. That's our fast food or boutique.
I mean, it's everything on the down line from that.
That requires lots of small businesses, and you guys are
there to support all of those endeavors.
Speaker 2 (12:10):
That's right. Think of us as the advocate for small
business owners. We're here to help you. That's what we're
here for. And the ancillary businesses that even support the industry.
You know, not only are those businesses here to support everyone, right,
(12:30):
the boutiques, the services, insurance companies, the dealerships. Every when
you drive down the street right right, and you look
on either side of the street, right and you think, oh,
that's a small business. That's a small business. That's a
small well SBA defines a small business five hundred or
(12:51):
less employees.
Speaker 1 (12:52):
Yeah, now that seems like a larger business, but that's
what they define as a small business.
Speaker 2 (12:56):
Right right, And so we interact with businesses of all. Right,
it could be a small shop with one or two employees,
or it could be a company that's been in business
for years that have five hundred or less employees, and
you think of that from a scale perspective and think
(13:16):
about the impact small businesses have on our communities. That's
why we refer to small businesses as the economic engines
of your communities.
Speaker 1 (13:28):
Well, let's say there's someone out there that is thinking
about or they're considering, I may want to start up
a small business. What are some of the things that
you offer to help guide them in their decision to
know is this the right thing for me to do
or not?
Speaker 2 (13:44):
Well, first, first, we are funded by the Small Business Administration,
the SBA, so we're federally funded and we our services
are at no cost. Okay, So if you're thinking about
starting a business, the best thing to do is go
to the website. You can go to a SBDC dot
(14:06):
org and by your zip code, look up who your
local Small Business Development Center is because our service areas
are defined by zip codes. Okay, okay, and then that
will take you to your SBDC that services your area
(14:26):
and sign up. They will contact you and then the
fun begins, right and.
Speaker 1 (14:35):
They'll go through all of the different things you need
to know and do to be able to have a
small business. Well, while you help that, you also have
a couple of events coming up. One is an event
presented by Motiva on May twenty seventh. Talk a little
bit about that.
Speaker 2 (14:50):
Right, So Motiva is a strategic partner. They part of
their strategic plan identifies community involvement and part of that
in community involvement is enrich small businesses and helping them.
And so our workshop series sponsored by Motiva is on
marketing and different aspects of marketing. And the next workshop
(15:15):
is May twenty seventh, and that workshop is how to
drive traffic to your website, content visibility and customer engagement.
So it's how your website can work for you, right.
You know, it's interesting I always ask business owners how
do you market I post on Facebook, I'm on social media,
(15:37):
and I'm like, okay, that's not marketing, yes, right, And
we have that conversation and we talk about the difference
between posting on social media versus actually having a marketing
plan and developing a marketing plan and what that looks
like for your company and your business. And this is
(15:59):
one aspect of it is, you know, how do you
drive traffic to your website? Right. How many do you
do you have a Google business page? Yes? I do?
Do you have a Google business page? Okay, well that's
one of the entities that help drive your customers to
your to how to contact you, how to reach you? Right?
(16:21):
And so this this workshop is an introductory course on
identifying what things you need to do to drive customers
to your website.
Speaker 1 (16:33):
Yeah, so let's talk a little bit about when, where,
How how much does it cost?
Speaker 2 (16:39):
Let's talk about that. Well, there's no cost again, free, free, free, free,
no costs, that's right, and it's it is a lunch
and learn. So the lunch is being sponsored by Motiva
and you can register by going calling our our office
and they will get you the information to get registered.
(17:02):
And it's on next Wednesday, May twenty seventh, from eleven
thirty to one. We're meeting at the Port Arthur Public
Library in the gallery, the large meeting room there and
it's on ninth Avenue and you just reach out to
our office at four oh nine nine eight four sixty
(17:23):
five three one and ask for the information for the
workshop and we'll get you signed up perfect.
Speaker 1 (17:30):
And with that is there a deadline to register to
make sure that you can have lunch.
Speaker 2 (17:36):
Yes, it is Tuesday, the day before, by noon.
Speaker 1 (17:40):
So you need to register by noon on Tuesday this
week on Tuesday to be able to get that free
lunch and be able to attend. So that's May twenty seventh,
which is Wednesday, eleven thirty to one, and that's at
the Port Author Public Library. That is right, great, Well,
that is some exciting news. And when we come back,
(18:03):
there's still more. Don't go away Data is going to
share some more information about the small Business symposium that's
coming up, so stay tuned. This is the Dana Simmons Show.
Welcome back. This is Dana Simmons. We have been visiting
with Dana Espinol with a small business development center and
she's been sharing with us one of the events that's
(18:23):
coming up next Wednesday on the twenty seventh, from eleven
thirty to one. It is how to drive traffic to
your website, content visibility and customer engagement. If you're interested
in that, we will have more information on our social
media pages so that you can find that as well.
Also with us. Just in case you hear him interjecting,
is Rick Deering. He is the public adjuster and consultant
(18:46):
for Justice claims. And he is also going to be
visiting with us here shortly about what he does and
how he helps policyholders, So don't miss that, stay tuned.
But Dana, let's talk a little bit about you have
another event coming up, a Small Business Symposium.
Speaker 2 (19:04):
This is our annual event that we have annually for
small business owners. It's designed specifically for small business owners,
and the symposium is about training opportunities, it's about networking
opportunities and also celebrating successes of local small businesses that
(19:27):
you know, deserve a pat on the back to say,
good job. You know, you're doing a good job. Keep
it up, you know. And so our Small Business Emposium
this year has been combined with our Small Business Annual
Awards Banquet. So it's a one full day event. This year,
it's going to be in Orange at the Lamar State College,
(19:53):
Orange Shahan Center at their Multipurpose Center and at nine
o'clock start the training programs and also the Small Business Expo.
And the expo is just a lot of different small
businesses that do business to business services and also there's
going to be some small businesses there just to introduce
(20:15):
themselves to the general public and that will go on
from nine until three o'clock. They're at the Shahn Center
and the trainings will be in the classrooms. The expo
will be in part of the ballroom area. And then
at eleven thirty we will have our lunch and our
(20:36):
lunch is going to have our Ignite Division competition, our
pitch competition. And so this year we have seven finalists
that will be engaging and presenting their pitches to the
audience there of the luncheon, and then the audience is
going to vote on who which small business pitch they
(20:59):
like the best.
Speaker 1 (21:01):
So explain to everyone what is a pitch.
Speaker 2 (21:04):
The pitch is your commercial for your business, and they
have it for they've got it down to two minutes, right, right,
So if you have that few minutes of an opportunity
to visit with someone and shake their hand and say, hey,
this is my business, and you explain why they need
to come and see you or talk to you, that's
(21:26):
what your pitch is about.
Speaker 1 (21:27):
And every business person, every small business person, should.
Speaker 2 (21:32):
Have a pitch. Absolutely, you should be able.
Speaker 1 (21:34):
To explain in two minutes succinctly what you do, how
you do it, and why you do it and why
you're the best fit.
Speaker 2 (21:41):
That's right, and so what.
Speaker 1 (21:44):
A great opportunity to hear seven of those. But I'd
love to hear a little bit more about those seminars.
So talk a little bit about what are some of
the topics that are going to be covered in those
seminars top.
Speaker 2 (22:00):
Of my head. I'm sorry I didn't come prepared with
the listing. I'm sorry, now that's okay, but I can
tell you in general terms, we will have a marketing segment.
We will have our orientation about who we are and
what we do. SBA District Office will be here and
they're doing some classes on funding, how to get a
(22:23):
small business funding and that's huge, right.
Speaker 1 (22:26):
For someone who is trying to start a small business,
so often money is part of the challenge for them not.
Speaker 2 (22:34):
To be able to do it.
Speaker 1 (22:35):
But the small the SBA is there to be able
to assist you in a lot of that effort in
getting you funding to get started. But you have to
prove right what it is and so being able to
know what they're going to want, what they're going to need.
Speaker 2 (22:52):
That's what we do with the SBDC right is to
get them lender ready, that's right, which is so helpful
because those are some challenge questions and the documentation that
they want you to provide.
Speaker 1 (23:04):
If you aren't used to doing that, I mean, it
looks impossible, but what a great opportunity.
Speaker 2 (23:11):
That's what we do, right, That's what we do, and
that's why we're here, is to help businesses succeed. We
want you to be successful. And then some of the
other classes that we'll be having will be geared towards
you know, we also will have some of these classes
in Spanish, so.
Speaker 1 (23:31):
That's wonderful, so that they have the opportunity as well
to be a part of that.
Speaker 2 (23:35):
That's right, and we welcome anybody and everybody, so we
want you to feel welcomed and to come and be
a part of the day.
Speaker 1 (23:43):
Now let's talk about how would someone register. And I
think there is a cost for this, right.
Speaker 2 (23:49):
The cost is for the day and it includes your
lunch ticket, right to go and experience the pitch competition,
and it is thirty dollars, but that is includes your
full day of activities and your lunch ticket. So that's great,
very reasonable.
Speaker 1 (24:06):
Well, let me tell you, Dana has been so gracious
to offer us some free tickets and I am going
to offer those two those of you who are listening,
if you will register on my website or on my
Facebook page, We'll do a post and if you want
(24:27):
to register on that. If we get more than the
number of tickets we have, I'll draw a name so
you can register on my Facebook which is Dana Simmons
real Estate, and we will we will contact you if
you are a winner of that of the free ticket.
But we would love to offer that to someone who's
thinking about getting their own small business going. We all
(24:50):
we all started there, right, Every small business started from nothing,
that's right, And so what a great opportunity to have.
There's so much information given to you before you even
have to get started. I mean, I didn't have this,
and I'm telling you this would have been such an
incredible jump start.
Speaker 2 (25:12):
Do you don't know how many people have said that
to me that have been in business for years and
years and years, and they'll say, I wish I knew
about the SBDC before I got started.
Speaker 1 (25:21):
Because you struggle so much on your own and you
don't have to, right, there's the difference.
Speaker 2 (25:26):
Right, And the thing about the SBDC is you know, yes,
we offer our services at no cost. But it's also
about developing relationships right and getting you connected with the
right people in the community.
Speaker 1 (25:39):
That is a key factor because not only do you
need to get your business off the ground, you have
to know the people to connect with and to prospect with.
And you were able to open doors that they may
not be able to do on their own.
Speaker 2 (25:54):
I never thought about it like that, but yes, yes,
yeah we can. We we we are the people connector yeah,
I love that about what you do.
Speaker 1 (26:03):
So if someone wanted to get a hold of you
a Dana, just to ask questions, how would they do that?
Speaker 2 (26:08):
Call my office at four oh nine nine eighty four
sixty five three one and we they will connect you
with me and we will have a conversation.
Speaker 1 (26:18):
Yeah, that'd be great. Or Google that's SBDC port author
that's right, and you can get a hold of data
that way. Well, when we come back, we are going
to visit with Rick Deering and we are so excited
to hear about Justice Claims and what they do and
how they may be able to assist you.
Speaker 2 (26:34):
So don't go away.
Speaker 1 (26:35):
This is the Dana Simmons Show. Welcome back. This is
Dana Simmons and we have been visiting with Dana Espinol
with the Small Business Development Center. So much good information
that they provide and all that they help people who
are trying to get a small business started, or if
you have a small business and you just need some help,
they're there for you for free. So if you need
(26:56):
any information on that, you can google the Small Business
Development Center and get ahold of a Dana and she
can connect you.
Speaker 2 (27:03):
With the right people.
Speaker 1 (27:04):
Also with us is Rick Deering And speaking of small business,
Rick has a small business called Justice Claims Else And
you are a public adjuster and consultant. Talk a little bit. Rick, first,
tell us about you. You've been to South Ea sexas
a long time right.
Speaker 3 (27:21):
Yes, ma'am born and raised. I born an Orange, graduated
from west Oorne Stark High School, got my undergraduate degree
degree from Lamar University here in Beaumont. Play a little baseball.
In fact, I was telling my grandson this morning, I
have an LU coffee cup that I got at one
of the golf tournaments here recently, and I was showing
it to somebody. I said, did you know I played
baseball at Lamar? And he said, no, you didn't popa
(27:45):
But anyhow, I did short lived, but yeah, born and
raised here all my life. Love this area. These are
salt of the earth people here. You know we are.
You've mentioned I'm an adjuster.
Speaker 2 (27:57):
I travel.
Speaker 3 (27:58):
I'm working right now in Los Angeles. I've got claims
also going in Tampa, Florida. We're all over, and I
can tell you, beyond a shadow of a doubt, there
is a difference in the people here and how they
react to disasters and negative situations that just, quite frankly,
(28:19):
I just don't see that toughness other places. Now I
am biased, so maybe that ties into that sum. But
you know, we're pretty resilient here. I agree, we're pretty resilient.
And first of all, just thank y'all for having me.
This has been fun. I've enjoyed listening to this. Speaking
of small business, we were kind of talking offline, and
you know, I have not taken advantage enough of this
(28:41):
opportunity that we have here as small business owners. I
have had some they did thing at the Orange station
or over in Orange Paul and Kim Dickerson's place, and
I had someone attend that. But you know, you can't
beat free, and even if it's not free, I mean,
thirty dollars for the other event, you know, to to
get to be involved in something like that. Typically in
(29:02):
today's time, you almost spend ten dollars at lunch anyhow
or more.
Speaker 1 (29:06):
You know, where do you get lunch for ten dollars?
I want to go there, because let me tell you,
I can't find it. But and it's not just the lunch,
it's in the education you get there. But what the contacts,
the context and people you meet. I mean, as a
small business owner, let me tell you, connecting with other
people is the key. You know, that is how you
(29:29):
build relationships. And you've lived here all your life. I've
lived here all my life. Building those relationships and having
a business that you run ethically with integrity means so much,
and that's how our businesses grow.
Speaker 2 (29:44):
That's right.
Speaker 1 (29:45):
It really does make the difference. And so I love
it when I have people on the show who have
been here all of their life and.
Speaker 2 (29:53):
Who, like you say, I love this area because.
Speaker 1 (29:57):
So much negative gets spoken, but there is so much
positive and we so much have to focus on the
good that's going on here in Southeast Taxas, and what
you're doing is a lot of good. So talk a
little bit about what is Justice Claims, and what do
you do well.
Speaker 3 (30:16):
Justice Claims is a public adjusting firm, and what we
do is we represent policy holders during negotiation of an
in property damage insurance claim. Your insurance policy is a
contract of adhesion where you sign the policy or the
contract saying I agree to these terms. Well, part of
those terms are you, as the policy holder, you have.
Speaker 2 (30:37):
To prove your loss.
Speaker 3 (30:39):
Sure, the insurance company sends an adjuster out and they look,
they're gonna look at whatever you point out to them.
If they're really experienced, they may really look real good,
but at the end of the day, they're not. Their
financial interest is not the same with yours, okay exactly
their financial interest by nature, and I don't hate them
(31:00):
for it. I spent fifteen years with a large insurance company, Farmers.
It's just a business. They're not going to come out
there look at every single opportunity of coverage to find
as much as they can to pay you. They're just
going to pay you. A public adjuster works on your behalf.
(31:22):
He or she takes your policy, reviews every single area
that has available coverage because there are many reads the
ones that give a coverage, and then it could even
take it away some things that lay people don't understand
when they're reading of policy, but public adjusters, that's what
we do. We interpret that and then we literally say, okay,
(31:44):
where did you suffer a loss financially that fits into
any of these buckets. We put all of that package together.
Then we present that to the insurance company and we
basically prove the loss for you. That is what a
public codjuster in essence does at the core.
Speaker 1 (32:03):
And so with hurricane season right around the corner, you know,
we're June first is hurricane season. And while we've been
through lots of hurricanes here and Rick, you may not remember,
but I remember after a hurricane I was I'm involved
with First Financial Bank, and you came and did a
(32:24):
little topic, a little conversation, a little uh gave us
information about what you did, and I was shocked. I'm like,
I had no idea. So for me, I had no
idea there was a company out there that would do
that on my behalf.
Speaker 3 (32:40):
It sounds like I need to go to some of
the SBD sp DS marketing classes. No, I just no, Dan,
it is You're right. We are a we're a little
known uh you know, people don't realize they have the option.
A lot of times when people are you know, they
have a claim and they're they're unsatisfied, that's when it
comes about that the even recognize what our profession is.
(33:02):
Part of that is inherent, you know, to what to
how we're designed. You know. It's almost like sometimes when
you have something that you think is good and you
kind of hold on to it for a long time.
That's what our profession did. The National Association has been
around for seventy five years. Yeah, we just had our
(33:25):
seventy fifth anniversary last summer, and we're having our seventy
sixth this year in Dallas in June. But what I'm
saying about this is it had kind of been hidden,
you know, for not nefarious reasons, but kind of like
we don't want other people getting involved in this, if
that makes sense. Now it has real it has blossomed
(33:47):
into more because of the younger generation of you know,
I got to be honest, it was probably driven mostly
by money and people that had money and things like that.
Now though, when it's filtered down into really helping people,
and that at the core is what justice claims us about.
We literally help people and we get paid to do it.
(34:10):
I can tell you, you know, I've had the hurricane Laura.
I had a church in Orange. I won't say their name,
but you know when you have a church call you,
you know, a year or two years after the fact
and say hey, we want to invite you to a
mortgage burning ceremony. And I said, what's a mortgage burning ceremony?
And they said, well, we're paying off the note on
this church, and we're paying it off early. And the
(34:31):
only reason we're able to do that is because the
work that your company did for us. You saved us
X amount of money and now we can have this
building that we never have to worry about again. Thank you. Yeah,
when you hear those, there's no you know that, there's
no amount of money that can that that satisfies or
feeds the soul like something like that, does you know?
(34:51):
Because in essence, that's that's really what we do. I
tell people all the time, I get paid to help people.
It's fantastic. I'm like a I told you I'm working
in Los Angeles right now. You know we have a
I'm working for a large condominiums four building, one hundred
and forty eight units. You know, in the of course,
the on the condominium they own only the walls in.
(35:13):
But you know, I mean that's their space. Long story short,
I won't make it, you know, But back to doing
a proper investigation this. This association has already spent six
million dollars cleaning, painting the buildings in the whole nine yards.
We go in the first day and open the first
sliding window and we say this isn't clean. And when
(35:36):
I say clean, I'm talking about smoke. And when I
say smoke, ladies, I have to be honest. I've handled
plenty of fires. I've never handled an urban wildfire like this.
It beats all I've ever seen. It's incredible. There'll be
we call them unicorn houses. There'll be a house standing
with thousands leveled next to it. Well, that one house.
(35:58):
Do you know how much smoke went into that house
and consumed. We get floods here, right. Everybody that's tore
out drywall around here in Southeast Texas knows everything that
gets touched up to the waterline is impacted. I don't
care if it's the nails and the two by fours
on the toe plate, I don't care what it is.
Anything that's touched by that water on a fire and
(36:19):
a smoke clane. When it's that big and perfect, there's
not a piece or millimeter of any room in the
building that wasn't touched by this toxic residue. Long story,
we now have confirmation they have excessive and two high
levels of lead in the window tracks of fifteen hundred
(36:43):
windows in these buildings. My whole point is the insurance
company wasn't going to come out and look for all
that and try to say, hey, they'll clean it. So
last week we had a big test. And I'm getting
a little bit granular here, but you'll understand what I'm
talking about. Everybody can picture this smoke was just everywhere, right,
it goes away. They clean the buildings, Well, they never
(37:04):
cleaned the window tracks, right, So then they say, okay,
we need to clean the window tracks. They clean the
window tracks. Well, when you open and slide these windows,
you can clean it. It'll be not a speck on there.
We'd record it. You open the window three or four
times and you boom, and it looks like I just
may not be appropriate by telling them it looks like
my grandma's ashtray when she used to dump them out,
(37:24):
you know. I mean it's ashes and smoke stuff everywhere,
you know, and so anyway, that is what we do.
We ensure that policyholders are protected. You know, you're talking
about a home. That's the largest purchase that an individual
ever makes. Typically, you know, businesses there's where it's really
you know, and like I said earlier, we do a
lot of commercial and so you know, those folks need
(37:45):
to be running, they don't. They need to focus on
what they do. Doctor Ricky Harris he's retired now, but
west Thorn Start superintendent. I've done a lot of work
with him over the years and he actually made a
marketing video for me, so there you go. I spent
some money on that. But anyhow, it was just you know,
he said, thank you, I passed one. I felt all
(38:07):
the rest of them this morning. Anyhow, No, he uh,
he always says that, you know, I turned this over
to Rick and his team and let them do what
they do so that me and my staff can do
what we do is educate children. And so anyhow, you know.
Speaker 1 (38:22):
So you do, I know you do. You said you
do commercial, you do industrial, you do public schools, you
do all kinds. But you do residential.
Speaker 3 (38:30):
We do. We do residential. We do residential. Now A
lot of times those end up being if nothing else, Dana,
I'll give them advice, you know what I mean, I'll
give them advice, and hey, do this, do this, do that?
And and there are countless times. You know, we're friends
on Facebook, you see, I have a lot of friends.
I'm I'm from a split family, so I'm kin to everybody.
Guys ask me all the time, who aren't you kin
(38:52):
to here? You know? And so anyway, but but I
just I just like to help people, and so yeah,
but but we do handle you know, we do handle
residential losses if it makes sense, you know, I mean
a lot of times you don't need us, you know,
and and uh, you know, I do want to caution
one thing. I'd be remiss if I didn't say it.
Be careful of a lot of contractors wanting to handle
(39:14):
your insurance claim, you know, capability wise, they probably can,
but legally they're not supposed to. There's a law called
up PA. It's the unauthorized practice of public adjusting, and
they can get in serious trouble. You know, when I
travel places like Florida, Santa Belle island. They have signs
coming into the you know, of unlicensed contractors trying to perform.
(39:36):
You know, So anyway, just just word of caution out there,
because because the reason is you can end up violating
terms of the policy and could could get and not
get packed get paid, or or if you pay a
guy and he runs off with the money, you know,
because you know, contractors don't necessarily have to Roofers don't
have to be licensed here in Texas. And so anyhow,
(39:58):
I'm getting into the weeds there.
Speaker 1 (39:59):
We it advice, great advice, because let me tell you,
as a real estate agent, I've seen the negative impact
when that has happened, when someone has had after the
one of the after the hurricanes. You know, everyone has
had after Rita, for example, everyone needed a roof, and
so people were just like choosing anyone, not understanding that
(40:20):
there are certain windstorm requirements here in Southeast Texas that
have to be met where an engineer has to approve
that RUTH as a windstorm certified RUTH in order to
get the best insurance coverage. And now if you don't
have that wp I eight associated with your roof, you
may not get coverage at all. Some insurance companies. So
(40:42):
what Rick is saying is so critical that you make
sure that the person you are hiring is a registered
person who knows what they're doing. Ask ask people, call
the BBB, call the SBDC. Called Rick, Let's make sure
that what you're doing because the challenge on that is here.
You are devastated from whatever event has happened, and then
(41:05):
you then get devastated again by someone who doesn't do
what they're supposed to do for you.
Speaker 3 (41:09):
You know, you hit on something there that I was
that I wanted to get to because you know, and
what I do, it's easy to get caught up in
shingles and windows and things like that, but you know,
to really put yourself in that person's shoes. You know,
I'm standing at a house that used to be here,
and it's no longer here. It's nothing but a slab,
you know, or like like me personally, after you know,
(41:31):
Hurricane Ike four foot of water in my house and
all of my trophies and belongings and all that stuff,
you know, and so it's put me in a unique
position as far as perspective, you know. And then I shared,
of course, you made the moving tribute about you know,
Memorial Day, and then I shared with you that although
I had my son served in the army to what
he did not die in the line of duty, but
(41:51):
he did die of a heart attack a few years ago,
and he did serve, and so at his grave it
has a marker there and thanking he for service. But
my whole point from all that is is I've suffered loss.
I'm able to put myself in my team too. We're
able to put ourselves in that person's shoes because these
things are devastating. I'm working with a couple. They're just
their average she's a professor. Their parents had a house
(42:16):
in Malibu, beautiful, just overlooking the other I mean beautiful,
and State Farm dropped them in October. They had to
go with what they call the California Fair Plan, very
similar to our Tuia, and so they had to go
with the California Fair Plan. Well, what I was telling
you about the smoke being in all the well, the
California Fair Plans policy says if it can clean, they
(42:39):
don't pay for it. So this couple has two hundred
and thirty thousand dollars in cleaning and replacing some parts
that the California Fair Plan and I here's eighty thousand,
I mean, and so they've had to cash in iras
all kind of stuff. So that kind of leads me
to being prepared, which is one thing I also wanted
to discuss. If we have time to do that, Well, you.
Speaker 1 (43:01):
Know what, Rick, We're going to have to have you back, okay,
because we have had so much fun on the show.
We have covered so many topics.
Speaker 3 (43:08):
Both.
Speaker 1 (43:09):
I know, I think it's great, it's wonderful. And I
think what I've heard today is our local people who
care about local people and want to help. So I
just can't thank you both enough for being here, for
being an advocate for Southeast Texas, for caring about people
the way you do, and wanting to do good by
all of our area. So I want to thank you
(43:31):
guys for joining us on the radio show today. I
hope you are having an incredible time this weekend celebrating.
Don't forget Monday three o'clock a moment of silence, just
to remember those who have gone before us and served
and passed in the line of duty. I want to
thank you again. Have a great weekend. This is the
Danis Simmons Show.
Well, hello Southeast Texas. I'm so glad you are joining
us this Saturday on a wonderful Memorial Day weekend, and
while it may be a little wet out there, it's
still a great opportunity to celebrate with friends and family
and enjoy that time.
Speaker 2 (00:18):
Before we get.
Speaker 1 (00:19):
Started, I'd love to give you a little bit of
information on what is the market doing. You know, I
can't go anywhere with someone saying, Hey, Dana, what's up
in the market, So I'd like to give you a
little bit of information about where we are in our
local stats right now. Well, in April of twenty twenty five,
we closed a total of three hundred and forty nine cells. Well,
(00:42):
amazingly enough, in April of twenty twenty six, we closed
three hundred and forty nine cells. But the difference is
the total volume sold. In twenty twenty five, our total
volume was eighty almost eighty one million dollars, but in April.
Speaker 2 (00:58):
It was eighty five five.
Speaker 1 (01:00):
So we are seeing a little bit of an impact
on our local market. In twenty twenty five, the market
was quite a bit softer. We had a much larger inventory.
We had a total number of almost eighteen hundred active listings,
which is a lot. And right now in April of
(01:21):
twenty six, our total average is about fifteen hundred, so
we have fewer homes. When you have fewer homes and
more buyers, of course, that's basic economics, you have a
little bit more of an even market. Also, our average
days on market has changed a little bit. In twenty
five it was ninety five and in twenty six it's
(01:44):
one hundred and seven. But one of the most significant
differences in the two markets for me is the total
pending volume. So in April of twenty five, our total
pending volume was sixty nine million, four hundred thousand, but
this year our pending volume is seventy eight thousand, six
(02:07):
hundred thousand, so that is a really significant increase in
the total number of volume in our volume. We are
seeing a pickup in our market, a significant pickup not
only in the phone calls, but in the offers that
we're getting and the properties that are going under contract. Now,
(02:29):
while we still have a pretty big residential listing active market,
I mean we are seeing you know, fifteen hundred and
sixty six. That is still a very good market. It's
a great time for buyers to enter the market. One
of the things I love is our average list price
is about two hundred and thirty thousand dollars, So affordability
(02:50):
in Southeast Texas just can't be beat. I was visiting
with a gentleman from Abilene and he was sharing that
in Abilene right now, they only have less than two
hundred houses on the market and their average days on
market is ten days, and that is a challenge for
(03:12):
new home buyer. It's really any buyer. So for us,
you know, he said, it's a crazy market and sellers
are getting really good offers. But for me, that is
a hard place to work because it's challenging to get
a new buyer to be able to compete with other
buyers in that kind of a situation because a cash
(03:33):
buyer is going to always win, and those are the
ones who are typically getting that. So for us in
Southeast Texas, now is a great time if you are
thinking about selling or buying, and we would love the
opportunity to visit with you about that, talk to you
about what houses are selling for in your neighborhood, give
you that data. There is no cost for us to
(03:53):
do that. We love to educate our clients on the
process and just give you the information you need to
make a wise decision for you and your family. You're
welcome to call my office at four oh nine eight
sixty six eight three two six. That's four o nine
eight six sixteen, or go to the website Dana Simmons
real Estate dot com or if you want to shorten
(04:15):
it DSR dot com. Both of those websites will get
you to one of our agents who can visit with
you this weekend about property. Well, we are having a
wonderful holiday weekend, and it got me to thinking, do
we all really know why we celebrate Memorial Day? And
for a lot of people, they get it confused. You know,
Memorial Day Veteran's Day. What's the difference? So I thought
(04:37):
i'd share a little bit. I did a Google search
and thought I'd share a little bit about Memorial Day.
How it came about. Will we celebrate Memorial Day to
honor and mourn the US military personnel who died in
the line of duty. We observe it annually on the
very last Monday of May. And it was established to
remember the ultimate sacrifices made by the men and women
(05:01):
who served in the armed forces. And while it unofficially
marks the start of the summer season, the day's true
meeting is centered on solemn remembrance and gratitude. You know,
it started known as the Decoration Day, and it began
as a way to honor fallen Civil War soldiers. And
(05:22):
then people would visit cemeteries and decorate the graves of
the war dead with flowers and wreaths and flags. But
then there was a national proclamation. It was first widely
observed on May thirtieth, eighteen sixty eight, under a proclamation
by Major General John A. Logan, and he was a
(05:42):
leader of the Grand Army of the Republic. Then there
was an expansion of it. After World War One, the
holiday evolved to commemorate American military personnel who died in
all wars, including World War II, Vietnam, Korea, and then
all sub subsequent conflicts. It did not become an official
(06:04):
federal holiday until nineteen seventy one. So what are some
ways that we can observe the holiday as a memorial.
First visit memorials. Americans often visit war memorial cemeteries and
historical sites to pay their respects. You can place flags,
(06:25):
often you'll see volunteers, including veteran groups and active duty military,
place American flags on the graves of service members and
national cemeteries, and a prominent tradition is at the Arlington
National Cemetery. But I think one thing that all of
us can participate in is a national Moment of Remembrance.
(06:45):
The US observes a national Moment of Remembrance at three pm,
whatever your local time is, pausing for one minute of
silence to honor the fallen. You know, that was something
new I learned as I was searching for this, and
I thought, what a great opportunity. I'll have my kids
and grandkids with me to be able to speak on
(07:07):
what people have done to honor our country who have
given the ultimate sacrifice, and to be able to remind
them of all who have gone before to allow them
to have the freedom that they have today. So this Monday,
at three pm, would you pause for one minute of
(07:28):
silence to honor those who have fallen? Another thing is
what is the difference between Memorial Day and Veteral Day
Veterans Day, And you know it's common to confuse the two,
but they have two distinct purposes. And Memorial Day strictly
honors the military personnel who died while serving in the
(07:48):
US Armed Forces. Veterans Day honors all American military veterans,
especially those who are still living. I hope this is
helpful for you as we celebrate the weekend, and while
it's a wonderful opportunity to enjoy friends and family, I
hope you'll think on the sacrifice of those who went
before us to give us this freedom to celebrate. Well,
(08:12):
when we come back, we are going to visit with
a few guests who are here to share a little
bit more information about what they do. First, Dana Espinol,
you guys may recognize her name. She has been with
the Small Business Development Center for a very long time,
very active in our community, and excited to visit with
her about a couple of events that they have coming up.
(08:34):
Rick Deering, who is a public adjuster for Justice Claims,
will also be with us and he's going to talk
about how they advocate for policyholders when there is an
event that happens here in Southea, Texas and really all
over the United States. So don't go away, you want
to be back because you don't want to miss it.
This is the Dana Simmons show Welcome back. This is
(08:56):
Dana Simmons and we are excited to have Dana espinol.
She is with the Small Business Development Center and she
is so active in our community. And Dana, I've seen
you all over the place. I remember when the Chevron
plant was coming to Orange. You were doing all kinds
of development and helps for people who may want to
(09:18):
get involved in being a vendor for them. I mean,
you have an incredible position in our community to help
small business. So talk first, tell us a little bit
about you, and then talk a little bit about what
exactly it is that your office does well.
Speaker 2 (09:34):
The Small Business Development Center is you know, we are
the go to for people. If you're thinking about starting
a small business, give us a call. If you've been
in small business for many, many years and you're wanting
to do something, give us a call. Right. But I
have enjoyed my tenure at the Small Business Development Center.
(10:00):
I really enjoy helping others. And you know, depending on
what's going on in the community, the Small Business Development
Center is usually involved. Just like you mentioned, when the
plants were gearing up in Orange, you know, they reached
out and said we need vendors to do X Y
(10:21):
Z right, and we were community partners and we were
there helping small businesses that have been in business for
years in Orange County looking for an opportunity to do
some of the work for the plant there the Golden Triangle,
And so it is, it's fulfilling, it's really I really
(10:42):
enjoy it. And as a rotarian, you know, I like
to serve others, you know, and I have found a
niche of what I enjoy doing every day, right, and
with that comes challenges, right, So right, you have the challenges,
but it's good. It's good for the community. You know,
(11:03):
small businesses are the economic engine. You've heard me say
that absolutely, and excuse me. And I'm a believer of that,
and I want small businesses to be successful and we
need them in Southeast Texas. You know, everybody always talks
about the industry, the industry, the industry. Yes, they bring jobs,
(11:24):
but we need the quality of life right right for
those folks living here. And what does that look like, Well,
small businesses are involved in that.
Speaker 1 (11:33):
Well, it's a trickle down effect basically, because you have
the big industry that has a lot to offer, brings
the jobs, but you have to have all of the
auxiliary pieces under that, the maintenance people, the people who
provide the services for all kinds of things. And then
you have to have the businesses that provide services like
(11:54):
finding houses for people. That's our fast food or boutique.
I mean, it's everything on the down line from that.
That requires lots of small businesses, and you guys are
there to support all of those endeavors.
Speaker 2 (12:10):
That's right. Think of us as the advocate for small
business owners. We're here to help you. That's what we're
here for. And the ancillary businesses that even support the industry.
You know, not only are those businesses here to support everyone, right,
(12:30):
the boutiques, the services, insurance companies, the dealerships. Every when
you drive down the street right right, and you look
on either side of the street, right and you think, oh,
that's a small business. That's a small business. That's a
small well SBA defines a small business five hundred or
(12:51):
less employees.
Speaker 1 (12:52):
Yeah, now that seems like a larger business, but that's
what they define as a small business.
Speaker 2 (12:56):
Right right, And so we interact with businesses of all. Right,
it could be a small shop with one or two employees,
or it could be a company that's been in business
for years that have five hundred or less employees, and
you think of that from a scale perspective and think
(13:16):
about the impact small businesses have on our communities. That's
why we refer to small businesses as the economic engines
of your communities.
Speaker 1 (13:28):
Well, let's say there's someone out there that is thinking
about or they're considering, I may want to start up
a small business. What are some of the things that
you offer to help guide them in their decision to
know is this the right thing for me to do
or not?
Speaker 2 (13:44):
Well, first, first, we are funded by the Small Business Administration,
the SBA, so we're federally funded and we our services
are at no cost. Okay, So if you're thinking about
starting a business, the best thing to do is go
to the website. You can go to a SBDC dot
(14:06):
org and by your zip code, look up who your
local Small Business Development Center is because our service areas
are defined by zip codes. Okay, okay, and then that
will take you to your SBDC that services your area
(14:26):
and sign up. They will contact you and then the
fun begins, right and.
Speaker 1 (14:35):
They'll go through all of the different things you need
to know and do to be able to have a
small business. Well, while you help that, you also have
a couple of events coming up. One is an event
presented by Motiva on May twenty seventh. Talk a little
bit about that.
Speaker 2 (14:50):
Right, So Motiva is a strategic partner. They part of
their strategic plan identifies community involvement and part of that
in community involvement is enrich small businesses and helping them.
And so our workshop series sponsored by Motiva is on
marketing and different aspects of marketing. And the next workshop
(15:15):
is May twenty seventh, and that workshop is how to
drive traffic to your website, content visibility and customer engagement.
So it's how your website can work for you, right.
You know, it's interesting I always ask business owners how
do you market I post on Facebook, I'm on social media,
(15:37):
and I'm like, okay, that's not marketing, yes, right, And
we have that conversation and we talk about the difference
between posting on social media versus actually having a marketing
plan and developing a marketing plan and what that looks
like for your company and your business. And this is
(15:59):
one aspect of it is, you know, how do you
drive traffic to your website? Right. How many do you
do you have a Google business page? Yes? I do?
Do you have a Google business page? Okay, well that's
one of the entities that help drive your customers to
your to how to contact you, how to reach you? Right?
(16:21):
And so this this workshop is an introductory course on
identifying what things you need to do to drive customers
to your website.
Speaker 1 (16:33):
Yeah, so let's talk a little bit about when, where,
How how much does it cost?
Speaker 2 (16:39):
Let's talk about that. Well, there's no cost again, free, free, free, free,
no costs, that's right, and it's it is a lunch
and learn. So the lunch is being sponsored by Motiva
and you can register by going calling our our office
and they will get you the information to get registered.
(17:02):
And it's on next Wednesday, May twenty seventh, from eleven
thirty to one. We're meeting at the Port Arthur Public
Library in the gallery, the large meeting room there and
it's on ninth Avenue and you just reach out to
our office at four oh nine nine eight four sixty
(17:23):
five three one and ask for the information for the
workshop and we'll get you signed up perfect.
Speaker 1 (17:30):
And with that is there a deadline to register to
make sure that you can have lunch.
Speaker 2 (17:36):
Yes, it is Tuesday, the day before, by noon.
Speaker 1 (17:40):
So you need to register by noon on Tuesday this
week on Tuesday to be able to get that free
lunch and be able to attend. So that's May twenty seventh,
which is Wednesday, eleven thirty to one, and that's at
the Port Author Public Library. That is right, great, Well,
that is some exciting news. And when we come back,
(18:03):
there's still more. Don't go away Data is going to
share some more information about the small Business symposium that's
coming up, so stay tuned. This is the Dana Simmons Show.
Welcome back. This is Dana Simmons. We have been visiting
with Dana Espinol with a small business development center and
she's been sharing with us one of the events that's
(18:23):
coming up next Wednesday on the twenty seventh, from eleven
thirty to one. It is how to drive traffic to
your website, content visibility and customer engagement. If you're interested
in that, we will have more information on our social
media pages so that you can find that as well.
Also with us. Just in case you hear him interjecting,
is Rick Deering. He is the public adjuster and consultant
(18:46):
for Justice claims. And he is also going to be
visiting with us here shortly about what he does and
how he helps policyholders, So don't miss that, stay tuned.
But Dana, let's talk a little bit about you have
another event coming up, a Small Business Symposium.
Speaker 2 (19:04):
This is our annual event that we have annually for
small business owners. It's designed specifically for small business owners,
and the symposium is about training opportunities, it's about networking
opportunities and also celebrating successes of local small businesses that
(19:27):
you know, deserve a pat on the back to say,
good job. You know, you're doing a good job. Keep
it up, you know. And so our Small Business Emposium
this year has been combined with our Small Business Annual
Awards Banquet. So it's a one full day event. This year,
it's going to be in Orange at the Lamar State College,
(19:53):
Orange Shahan Center at their Multipurpose Center and at nine
o'clock start the training programs and also the Small Business Expo.
And the expo is just a lot of different small
businesses that do business to business services and also there's
going to be some small businesses there just to introduce
(20:15):
themselves to the general public and that will go on
from nine until three o'clock. They're at the Shahn Center
and the trainings will be in the classrooms. The expo
will be in part of the ballroom area. And then
at eleven thirty we will have our lunch and our
(20:36):
lunch is going to have our Ignite Division competition, our
pitch competition. And so this year we have seven finalists
that will be engaging and presenting their pitches to the
audience there of the luncheon, and then the audience is
going to vote on who which small business pitch they
(20:59):
like the best.
Speaker 1 (21:01):
So explain to everyone what is a pitch.
Speaker 2 (21:04):
The pitch is your commercial for your business, and they
have it for they've got it down to two minutes, right, right,
So if you have that few minutes of an opportunity
to visit with someone and shake their hand and say, hey,
this is my business, and you explain why they need
to come and see you or talk to you, that's
(21:26):
what your pitch is about.
Speaker 1 (21:27):
And every business person, every small business person, should.
Speaker 2 (21:32):
Have a pitch. Absolutely, you should be able.
Speaker 1 (21:34):
To explain in two minutes succinctly what you do, how
you do it, and why you do it and why
you're the best fit.
Speaker 2 (21:41):
That's right, and so what.
Speaker 1 (21:44):
A great opportunity to hear seven of those. But I'd
love to hear a little bit more about those seminars.
So talk a little bit about what are some of
the topics that are going to be covered in those
seminars top.
Speaker 2 (22:00):
Of my head. I'm sorry I didn't come prepared with
the listing. I'm sorry, now that's okay, but I can
tell you in general terms, we will have a marketing segment.
We will have our orientation about who we are and
what we do. SBA District Office will be here and
they're doing some classes on funding, how to get a
(22:23):
small business funding and that's huge, right.
Speaker 1 (22:26):
For someone who is trying to start a small business,
so often money is part of the challenge for them not.
Speaker 2 (22:34):
To be able to do it.
Speaker 1 (22:35):
But the small the SBA is there to be able
to assist you in a lot of that effort in
getting you funding to get started. But you have to
prove right what it is and so being able to
know what they're going to want, what they're going to need.
Speaker 2 (22:52):
That's what we do with the SBDC right is to
get them lender ready, that's right, which is so helpful
because those are some challenge questions and the documentation that
they want you to provide.
Speaker 1 (23:04):
If you aren't used to doing that, I mean, it
looks impossible, but what a great opportunity.
Speaker 2 (23:11):
That's what we do, right, That's what we do, and
that's why we're here, is to help businesses succeed. We
want you to be successful. And then some of the
other classes that we'll be having will be geared towards
you know, we also will have some of these classes
in Spanish, so.
Speaker 1 (23:31):
That's wonderful, so that they have the opportunity as well
to be a part of that.
Speaker 2 (23:35):
That's right, and we welcome anybody and everybody, so we
want you to feel welcomed and to come and be
a part of the day.
Speaker 1 (23:43):
Now let's talk about how would someone register. And I
think there is a cost for this, right.
Speaker 2 (23:49):
The cost is for the day and it includes your
lunch ticket, right to go and experience the pitch competition,
and it is thirty dollars, but that is includes your
full day of activities and your lunch ticket. So that's great,
very reasonable.
Speaker 1 (24:06):
Well, let me tell you, Dana has been so gracious
to offer us some free tickets and I am going
to offer those two those of you who are listening,
if you will register on my website or on my
Facebook page, We'll do a post and if you want
(24:27):
to register on that. If we get more than the
number of tickets we have, I'll draw a name so
you can register on my Facebook which is Dana Simmons
real Estate, and we will we will contact you if
you are a winner of that of the free ticket.
But we would love to offer that to someone who's
thinking about getting their own small business going. We all
(24:50):
we all started there, right, Every small business started from nothing,
that's right, And so what a great opportunity to have.
There's so much information given to you before you even
have to get started. I mean, I didn't have this,
and I'm telling you this would have been such an
incredible jump start.
Speaker 2 (25:12):
Do you don't know how many people have said that
to me that have been in business for years and
years and years, and they'll say, I wish I knew
about the SBDC before I got started.
Speaker 1 (25:21):
Because you struggle so much on your own and you
don't have to, right, there's the difference.
Speaker 2 (25:26):
Right, And the thing about the SBDC is you know, yes,
we offer our services at no cost. But it's also
about developing relationships right and getting you connected with the
right people in the community.
Speaker 1 (25:39):
That is a key factor because not only do you
need to get your business off the ground, you have
to know the people to connect with and to prospect with.
And you were able to open doors that they may
not be able to do on their own.
Speaker 2 (25:54):
I never thought about it like that, but yes, yes,
yeah we can. We we we are the people connector yeah,
I love that about what you do.
Speaker 1 (26:03):
So if someone wanted to get a hold of you
a Dana, just to ask questions, how would they do that?
Speaker 2 (26:08):
Call my office at four oh nine nine eighty four
sixty five three one and we they will connect you
with me and we will have a conversation.
Speaker 1 (26:18):
Yeah, that'd be great. Or Google that's SBDC port author
that's right, and you can get a hold of data
that way. Well, when we come back, we are going
to visit with Rick Deering and we are so excited
to hear about Justice Claims and what they do and
how they may be able to assist you.
Speaker 2 (26:34):
So don't go away.
Speaker 1 (26:35):
This is the Dana Simmons Show. Welcome back. This is
Dana Simmons and we have been visiting with Dana Espinol
with the Small Business Development Center. So much good information
that they provide and all that they help people who
are trying to get a small business started, or if
you have a small business and you just need some help,
they're there for you for free. So if you need
(26:56):
any information on that, you can google the Small Business
Development Center and get ahold of a Dana and she
can connect you.
Speaker 2 (27:03):
With the right people.
Speaker 1 (27:04):
Also with us is Rick Deering And speaking of small business,
Rick has a small business called Justice Claims Else And
you are a public adjuster and consultant. Talk a little bit. Rick, first,
tell us about you. You've been to South Ea sexas
a long time right.
Speaker 3 (27:21):
Yes, ma'am born and raised. I born an Orange, graduated
from west Oorne Stark High School, got my undergraduate degree
degree from Lamar University here in Beaumont. Play a little baseball.
In fact, I was telling my grandson this morning, I
have an LU coffee cup that I got at one
of the golf tournaments here recently, and I was showing
it to somebody. I said, did you know I played
baseball at Lamar? And he said, no, you didn't popa
(27:45):
But anyhow, I did short lived, but yeah, born and
raised here all my life. Love this area. These are
salt of the earth people here. You know we are.
You've mentioned I'm an adjuster.
Speaker 2 (27:57):
I travel.
Speaker 3 (27:58):
I'm working right now in Los Angeles. I've got claims
also going in Tampa, Florida. We're all over, and I
can tell you, beyond a shadow of a doubt, there
is a difference in the people here and how they
react to disasters and negative situations that just, quite frankly,
(28:19):
I just don't see that toughness other places. Now I
am biased, so maybe that ties into that sum. But
you know, we're pretty resilient here. I agree, we're pretty resilient.
And first of all, just thank y'all for having me.
This has been fun. I've enjoyed listening to this. Speaking
of small business, we were kind of talking offline, and
you know, I have not taken advantage enough of this
(28:41):
opportunity that we have here as small business owners. I
have had some they did thing at the Orange station
or over in Orange Paul and Kim Dickerson's place, and
I had someone attend that. But you know, you can't
beat free, and even if it's not free, I mean,
thirty dollars for the other event, you know, to to
get to be involved in something like that. Typically in
(29:02):
today's time, you almost spend ten dollars at lunch anyhow
or more.
Speaker 1 (29:06):
You know, where do you get lunch for ten dollars?
I want to go there, because let me tell you,
I can't find it. But and it's not just the lunch,
it's in the education you get there. But what the contacts,
the context and people you meet. I mean, as a
small business owner, let me tell you, connecting with other
people is the key. You know, that is how you
(29:29):
build relationships. And you've lived here all your life. I've
lived here all my life. Building those relationships and having
a business that you run ethically with integrity means so much,
and that's how our businesses grow.
Speaker 2 (29:44):
That's right.
Speaker 1 (29:45):
It really does make the difference. And so I love
it when I have people on the show who have
been here all of their life and.
Speaker 2 (29:53):
Who, like you say, I love this area because.
Speaker 1 (29:57):
So much negative gets spoken, but there is so much
positive and we so much have to focus on the
good that's going on here in Southeast Taxas, and what
you're doing is a lot of good. So talk a
little bit about what is Justice Claims, and what do
you do well.
Speaker 3 (30:16):
Justice Claims is a public adjusting firm, and what we
do is we represent policy holders during negotiation of an
in property damage insurance claim. Your insurance policy is a
contract of adhesion where you sign the policy or the
contract saying I agree to these terms. Well, part of
those terms are you, as the policy holder, you have.
Speaker 2 (30:37):
To prove your loss.
Speaker 3 (30:39):
Sure, the insurance company sends an adjuster out and they look,
they're gonna look at whatever you point out to them.
If they're really experienced, they may really look real good,
but at the end of the day, they're not. Their
financial interest is not the same with yours, okay exactly
their financial interest by nature, and I don't hate them
(31:00):
for it. I spent fifteen years with a large insurance company, Farmers.
It's just a business. They're not going to come out
there look at every single opportunity of coverage to find
as much as they can to pay you. They're just
going to pay you. A public adjuster works on your behalf.
(31:22):
He or she takes your policy, reviews every single area
that has available coverage because there are many reads the
ones that give a coverage, and then it could even
take it away some things that lay people don't understand
when they're reading of policy, but public adjusters, that's what
we do. We interpret that and then we literally say, okay,
(31:44):
where did you suffer a loss financially that fits into
any of these buckets. We put all of that package together.
Then we present that to the insurance company and we
basically prove the loss for you. That is what a
public codjuster in essence does at the core.
Speaker 1 (32:03):
And so with hurricane season right around the corner, you know,
we're June first is hurricane season. And while we've been
through lots of hurricanes here and Rick, you may not remember,
but I remember after a hurricane I was I'm involved
with First Financial Bank, and you came and did a
(32:24):
little topic, a little conversation, a little uh gave us
information about what you did, and I was shocked. I'm like,
I had no idea. So for me, I had no
idea there was a company out there that would do
that on my behalf.
Speaker 3 (32:40):
It sounds like I need to go to some of
the SBD sp DS marketing classes. No, I just no, Dan,
it is You're right. We are a we're a little
known uh you know, people don't realize they have the option.
A lot of times when people are you know, they
have a claim and they're they're unsatisfied, that's when it
comes about that the even recognize what our profession is.
(33:02):
Part of that is inherent, you know, to what to
how we're designed. You know. It's almost like sometimes when
you have something that you think is good and you
kind of hold on to it for a long time.
That's what our profession did. The National Association has been
around for seventy five years. Yeah, we just had our
(33:25):
seventy fifth anniversary last summer, and we're having our seventy
sixth this year in Dallas in June. But what I'm
saying about this is it had kind of been hidden,
you know, for not nefarious reasons, but kind of like
we don't want other people getting involved in this, if
that makes sense. Now it has real it has blossomed
(33:47):
into more because of the younger generation of you know,
I got to be honest, it was probably driven mostly
by money and people that had money and things like that.
Now though, when it's filtered down into really helping people,
and that at the core is what justice claims us about.
We literally help people and we get paid to do it.
(34:10):
I can tell you, you know, I've had the hurricane Laura.
I had a church in Orange. I won't say their name,
but you know when you have a church call you,
you know, a year or two years after the fact
and say hey, we want to invite you to a
mortgage burning ceremony. And I said, what's a mortgage burning ceremony?
And they said, well, we're paying off the note on
this church, and we're paying it off early. And the
(34:31):
only reason we're able to do that is because the
work that your company did for us. You saved us
X amount of money and now we can have this
building that we never have to worry about again. Thank you. Yeah,
when you hear those, there's no you know that, there's
no amount of money that can that that satisfies or
feeds the soul like something like that, does you know?
(34:51):
Because in essence, that's that's really what we do. I
tell people all the time, I get paid to help people.
It's fantastic. I'm like a I told you I'm working
in Los Angeles right now. You know we have a
I'm working for a large condominiums four building, one hundred
and forty eight units. You know, in the of course,
the on the condominium they own only the walls in.
(35:13):
But you know, I mean that's their space. Long story short,
I won't make it, you know, But back to doing
a proper investigation this. This association has already spent six
million dollars cleaning, painting the buildings in the whole nine yards.
We go in the first day and open the first
sliding window and we say this isn't clean. And when
(35:36):
I say clean, I'm talking about smoke. And when I
say smoke, ladies, I have to be honest. I've handled
plenty of fires. I've never handled an urban wildfire like this.
It beats all I've ever seen. It's incredible. There'll be
we call them unicorn houses. There'll be a house standing
with thousands leveled next to it. Well, that one house.
(35:58):
Do you know how much smoke went into that house
and consumed. We get floods here, right. Everybody that's tore
out drywall around here in Southeast Texas knows everything that
gets touched up to the waterline is impacted. I don't
care if it's the nails and the two by fours
on the toe plate, I don't care what it is.
Anything that's touched by that water on a fire and
(36:19):
a smoke clane. When it's that big and perfect, there's
not a piece or millimeter of any room in the
building that wasn't touched by this toxic residue. Long story,
we now have confirmation they have excessive and two high
levels of lead in the window tracks of fifteen hundred
(36:43):
windows in these buildings. My whole point is the insurance
company wasn't going to come out and look for all
that and try to say, hey, they'll clean it. So
last week we had a big test. And I'm getting
a little bit granular here, but you'll understand what I'm
talking about. Everybody can picture this smoke was just everywhere, right,
it goes away. They clean the buildings, Well, they never
(37:04):
cleaned the window tracks, right, So then they say, okay,
we need to clean the window tracks. They clean the
window tracks. Well, when you open and slide these windows,
you can clean it. It'll be not a speck on there.
We'd record it. You open the window three or four
times and you boom, and it looks like I just
may not be appropriate by telling them it looks like
my grandma's ashtray when she used to dump them out,
(37:24):
you know. I mean it's ashes and smoke stuff everywhere,
you know, and so anyway, that is what we do.
We ensure that policyholders are protected. You know, you're talking
about a home. That's the largest purchase that an individual
ever makes. Typically, you know, businesses there's where it's really
you know, and like I said earlier, we do a
lot of commercial and so you know, those folks need
(37:45):
to be running, they don't. They need to focus on
what they do. Doctor Ricky Harris he's retired now, but
west Thorn Start superintendent. I've done a lot of work
with him over the years and he actually made a
marketing video for me, so there you go. I spent
some money on that. But anyhow, it was just you know,
he said, thank you, I passed one. I felt all
(38:07):
the rest of them this morning. Anyhow, No, he uh,
he always says that, you know, I turned this over
to Rick and his team and let them do what
they do so that me and my staff can do
what we do is educate children. And so anyhow, you know.
Speaker 1 (38:22):
So you do, I know you do. You said you
do commercial, you do industrial, you do public schools, you
do all kinds. But you do residential.
Speaker 3 (38:30):
We do. We do residential. We do residential. Now A
lot of times those end up being if nothing else, Dana,
I'll give them advice, you know what I mean, I'll
give them advice, and hey, do this, do this, do that?
And and there are countless times. You know, we're friends
on Facebook, you see, I have a lot of friends.
I'm I'm from a split family, so I'm kin to everybody.
Guys ask me all the time, who aren't you kin
(38:52):
to here? You know? And so anyway, but but I
just I just like to help people, and so yeah,
but but we do handle you know, we do handle
residential losses if it makes sense, you know, I mean
a lot of times you don't need us, you know,
and and uh, you know, I do want to caution
one thing. I'd be remiss if I didn't say it.
Be careful of a lot of contractors wanting to handle
(39:14):
your insurance claim, you know, capability wise, they probably can,
but legally they're not supposed to. There's a law called
up PA. It's the unauthorized practice of public adjusting, and
they can get in serious trouble. You know, when I
travel places like Florida, Santa Belle island. They have signs
coming into the you know, of unlicensed contractors trying to perform.
(39:36):
You know, So anyway, just just word of caution out there,
because because the reason is you can end up violating
terms of the policy and could could get and not
get packed get paid, or or if you pay a
guy and he runs off with the money, you know,
because you know, contractors don't necessarily have to Roofers don't
have to be licensed here in Texas. And so anyhow,
(39:58):
I'm getting into the weeds there.
Speaker 1 (39:59):
We it advice, great advice, because let me tell you,
as a real estate agent, I've seen the negative impact
when that has happened, when someone has had after the
one of the after the hurricanes. You know, everyone has
had after Rita, for example, everyone needed a roof, and
so people were just like choosing anyone, not understanding that
(40:20):
there are certain windstorm requirements here in Southeast Texas that
have to be met where an engineer has to approve
that RUTH as a windstorm certified RUTH in order to
get the best insurance coverage. And now if you don't
have that wp I eight associated with your roof, you
may not get coverage at all. Some insurance companies. So
(40:42):
what Rick is saying is so critical that you make
sure that the person you are hiring is a registered
person who knows what they're doing. Ask ask people, call
the BBB, call the SBDC. Called Rick, Let's make sure
that what you're doing because the challenge on that is here.
You are devastated from whatever event has happened, and then
(41:05):
you then get devastated again by someone who doesn't do
what they're supposed to do for you.
Speaker 3 (41:09):
You know, you hit on something there that I was
that I wanted to get to because you know, and
what I do, it's easy to get caught up in
shingles and windows and things like that, but you know,
to really put yourself in that person's shoes. You know,
I'm standing at a house that used to be here,
and it's no longer here. It's nothing but a slab,
you know, or like like me personally, after you know,
(41:31):
Hurricane Ike four foot of water in my house and
all of my trophies and belongings and all that stuff,
you know, and so it's put me in a unique
position as far as perspective, you know. And then I shared,
of course, you made the moving tribute about you know,
Memorial Day, and then I shared with you that although
I had my son served in the army to what
he did not die in the line of duty, but
(41:51):
he did die of a heart attack a few years ago,
and he did serve, and so at his grave it
has a marker there and thanking he for service. But
my whole point from all that is is I've suffered loss.
I'm able to put myself in my team too. We're
able to put ourselves in that person's shoes because these
things are devastating. I'm working with a couple. They're just
their average she's a professor. Their parents had a house
(42:16):
in Malibu, beautiful, just overlooking the other I mean beautiful,
and State Farm dropped them in October. They had to
go with what they call the California Fair Plan, very
similar to our Tuia, and so they had to go
with the California Fair Plan. Well, what I was telling
you about the smoke being in all the well, the
California Fair Plans policy says if it can clean, they
(42:39):
don't pay for it. So this couple has two hundred
and thirty thousand dollars in cleaning and replacing some parts
that the California Fair Plan and I here's eighty thousand,
I mean, and so they've had to cash in iras
all kind of stuff. So that kind of leads me
to being prepared, which is one thing I also wanted
to discuss. If we have time to do that, Well, you.
Speaker 1 (43:01):
Know what, Rick, We're going to have to have you back, okay,
because we have had so much fun on the show.
We have covered so many topics.
Speaker 3 (43:08):
Both.
Speaker 1 (43:09):
I know, I think it's great, it's wonderful. And I
think what I've heard today is our local people who
care about local people and want to help. So I
just can't thank you both enough for being here, for
being an advocate for Southeast Texas, for caring about people
the way you do, and wanting to do good by
all of our area. So I want to thank you
(43:31):
guys for joining us on the radio show today. I
hope you are having an incredible time this weekend celebrating.
Don't forget Monday three o'clock a moment of silence, just
to remember those who have gone before us and served
and passed in the line of duty. I want to
thank you again. Have a great weekend. This is the
Danis Simmons Show.
Popular Podcasts
Betrayal Weekly
Betrayal Weekly is back for a new season. Every Thursday, Betrayal Weekly shares first-hand accounts of broken trust, shocking deceptions, and the trail of destruction they leave behind. Hosted by Andrea Gunning, this weekly ongoing series digs into real-life stories of betrayal and the aftermath. From stories of double lives to dark discoveries, these are cautionary tales and accounts of resilience against all odds. From the producers of the critically acclaimed Betrayal series, Betrayal Weekly drops new episodes every Thursday. If you would like to share your story, you can reach out to the Betrayal Team by emailing them at betrayalpod@gmail.com and follow us on Instagram at @betrayalpod and @glasspodcasts. Please join our Substack for additional exclusive content, curated book recommendations, and community discussions. Sign up FREE by clicking this link Beyond Betrayal Substack. Join our community dedicated to truth, resilience, and healing. Your voice matters! Be a part of our Betrayal journey on Substack.
Crime Junkie
Does hearing about a true crime case always leave you scouring the internet for the truth behind the story? Dive into your next mystery with Crime Junkie. Every Monday, join your host Ashley Flowers as she unravels all the details of infamous and underreported true crime cases with her best friend Brit Prawat. From cold cases to missing persons and heroes in our community who seek justice, Crime Junkie is your destination for theories and stories you won’t hear anywhere else. Whether you're a seasoned true crime enthusiast or new to the genre, you'll find yourself on the edge of your seat awaiting a new episode every Monday. If you can never get enough true crime... Congratulations, you’ve found your people. Follow to join a community of Crime Junkies! Crime Junkie is presented by Audiochuck Media Company.
Stuff You Should Know
If you've ever wanted to know about champagne, satanism, the Stonewall Uprising, chaos theory, LSD, El Nino, true crime and Rosa Parks, then look no further. Josh and Chuck have you covered.