Condo Media - April 2017 - 39

Cooperative, a cooperative of independently owned property
management firms across the nation who combine their buying power to offer their clients lower rates on services such as
insurance, supplies, energy, and trash collection. There is no
charge to Great North's clients for this service, which also offers unit owners discounts from hundreds of national retailers.
Great North is the only company in New England that is part of
the Innovia cooperative and is a founding member of it.
Another example of the Great North advantage is its accounting department. Accounting is all handled centrally, and
Great North has invested heavily in both systems and personnel. Various controls such as back-up systems, video surveillance, and sprinkler systems further protect clients' finances.
"Over the past 27 years, we have built in some of the most
significant internal controls that are available in the industry,"
says Lou. "As a result of that, we have protected every penny of
client funds for all the years that we've been in business."
Neil Harper, president of the board of trustees at University
Green Condominium Trust of Cambridge, Mass., has a background in accounting and appreciates Great North's attention
to his area of expertise. "The accounting software is very, very
good," he says. "It handles naturally and easily." And he praises
Jacki Sirrine, vice president and director of corporate financial
services and controller for Great North, and assistant controller Brenna Sanborn. "The people running the accounting
department are excellent," he says.
TECHNOLOGY AND A HUMAN TOUCH
Another area where Great North has made significant investment is technology. "We have all of the state-of-the-art technology that's available in the marketplace," says Lou. To Neil,
that investment is a great benefit to trustees. An all-volunteer
board with some turnover and no central storage area can find
that records are hard to maintain. "It's difficult to keep track
of where the minutes are, who has signatory powers over bank
accounts, who has the 'to-do' list," he says. "Great North has the
kind of technology that improves communication and provides
digital records that are easier to keep intact."
Great North's investment in technology also extends to
videoconferencing. Videoconferencing capability has been
installed in all of its regional offices, so that, if a board wants
to meet with someone at Great North headquarters or with
board members away in Florida for the winter, for example,
they can enjoy robust videoconferencing from Great North's
local office or from their own home or workplace. "It allows
us to be able to respond to our clients' needs," says Lou.
The Gargiulos also take pride in Great North's investment in human resources. The firm's human resources
department is constantly recruiting and training managers
and accounting people, and a generous tuition reimbursement plan encourages employees to work toward advanced
degrees, such as MBAs or various industry certifications.

And training seminars for the boards of client properties are
available from time to time, free of charge.
Clients are further attended to by a substantial client
service group. "When a person calls Great North, they don't
just go into a voicemail queue-they get a live person who, in
the event of an emergency, can direct that call to another live
person," says Lou. "That way, they aren't left wondering if
someone received the phone call or the voicemail message."
LOOKING FOR LIKE-MINDED
MANAGEMENT PARTNERS
Great North has achieved its growth primarily through
the acquisition of smaller firms, and, over the years, it has
perfected the art of making the process seamless. "The
only difference was that we started sending our condo fees
to a different address," says Maria Ascher, a trustee of the
31 Concord Avenue association in Cambridge, Mass. The
property had been managed by G&G Management of Newton, Mass., until G&G's acquisition by Great North last year.
"The transition was quite smooth."
Another former G&G client benefiting from the Great
North advantage is Strathmore Condominium of Boston,
Mass. The trustees of the 28-unit property were looking
for responsiveness and transparency in a management
company-and Daniel Davis, a Strathmore trustee, confirms
that they found both with Great North. "The staff has been
exceptionally transparent and helpful," he says. "And they've
been very proactive about the building. They look after all
the little details a non-professional would overlook."
For example, the management company was able to save
$20,000 a year by switching the heating system to natural gas,
and those savings have helped build up the capital reserves.
According to Daniel, Great North also ensures that vendors
live up to the terms of their contracts, and the firm has been
helpful in identifying maintenance issues and planning how
to finance them. "We couldn't be happier," says Daniel.
Now in its second quarter-century, Great North is continuing
to seek smaller firms to acquire-but only if the corporate cultures are a good fit. "It's getting harder and harder for small companies to be able to provide the service and systems that clients
want, and, as a result of that, we're constantly being sought after
to acquire smaller companies," Lou reveals. "We will continue to
acquire smaller companies that meet the ethical standards that
we feel are necessary and that have the same type of founding
principles that we have." Among those values are high levels of
customer service, good communication, significant internal
controls, and, as he puts it, "a desire to serve the condominium
association community at the highest level possible."
For more information about how Great North can bring
large-company services with a local touch to your association,
call (800) 639-7309, or visit www.greatnorth.net.

http://www.greatnorth.net

Condo Media - April 2017

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