“Work hard, play hard,” is Beau Value, the CEO and Founder of Disaster Response’s lifelong motto. When he isn’t working 14-hour days, he is snowmobiling in the beautiful backcountry of Idaho, mountain biking with his kids, jet boating on the salmon river, or tracking an elk in the woods. The outdoors gives Beau an escape, a place to process information. It allows him to stay balanced.
Beau grew up in Garden Valley, Idaho hunting, driving, and working with his dad. Starting at the early age of 11 you could find Beau riding the school bus to the jobsite. He would pack boards, pick up nails, and tackle any miscellaneous job. By the time Beau was 17, he was running a framing crew with 30-50 year-olds working under him. This was the first of many challenges he faced as a leader in the construction world. To gain respect from the crew and be able to properly lead the team, Beau would lead by example, taking on the hardest jobs, and perfecting everything he started. Eventually he earned their trust and began to set goals with them, getting everyone to see the same vision and work as a team. Beau’s experience working under his dad truly taught him how to be a leader, and shortly led to him starting his own framing company at 19. Since then, he has owned his own business. He went from framing in Boise to high end custom home building, mostly at Tamarack Resort. In 2007 things went downhill for Tamarack, leaving Beau looking for a new business opportunity. A friend introduced him to restoration and gave him the opportunity to work under them. He started a branch in McCall, ID, and immediately got IICRC certified and Xactimate trained. He received his first flood job while working out of his garage in February of 2011 and from there business took off. By the first year he matched their volume, and the second he doubled in size. His third year in he decided to make his own path, buying out the McCall location and changing its name to Disaster Response.
Disaster Response seems simple enough, but lists upon lists went into its creation. Beau wanted the name to encompass something more than its CEO or services, he wanted it to bring together what the company did, its employees, customers, and values. Beau wants the Disaster Response brand and name to represent something, and he wants the community to hear Disaster Response and know who they are, and what they stand for. He wants Disaster Response to be a leader in Idaho’s restoration industry.
In the last 11 years Disaster Response has experienced a significant amount of growth. Disaster Response now has five locations throughout Idaho and Washington and more than 80 employees. In the last year alone, they grew at a rate of 37% and in the
last five years they have tripled their number of employees. As Disaster Response has changed, so has the industry. Restoration technology is advancing at an exponential rate, you can go to a water loss, see what it looks like inside and out and use 3D imagery. Before, people used to “cowboy” it, or go in and fix a house with no standards or procedures. Now restoration companies are held
accountable and have accurate data that shows them exactly what repairs need to be done. Data can also be shown to homeowners and insurance, keeping them in the communication loop and allowing billing and coverage to go smoothly. Technology will continue to change, and the key is to stay up to date with it. Beau stives to stay in the loop, knowing that it will keep Disaster Response more efficient and accountable. To stay up to date on new information, Beau and other members of Team DR attend restoration conferences around the U.S. to learn about the newest strategies and technologies. In 2021, Disaster Response joined CORE as another way to gain knowledge. CORE connects the very best independent restoration companies, giving them strength against the corporate restoration industry. They have monthly meetings, talking about the changes in the industry and their approach to restoration. These meetings allow Beau to form connections and gain a new perspective, making way for improvement and growth at Disaster Response.
Disaster Response recently opened its fifth and largest branch in Post Falls, Idaho. Beau invested a lot of time and money into opening this branch, but not without risk. To him the risk made sense, it was calculated out. In the past when opening a new location Beau just got his foot wet starting with a small office, crew, and restoration equipment. With Post Falls he wanted to do things different starting with what they will be, not what they currently are. Making it more costly initially, but more efficient in the long run. There will be less remodeling or moving offices, buying more equipment, and hiring new management as the Post Falls office grows. Five locations are not enough for Beau, he wants to purchase or open another location in the next 8-12 months, and within five years have 10 locations, tripling the revenue and number of employees. To reach his goals, Disaster Response not only has to grow externally, but it also must grow internally. This may seem easy, but it is more difficult than what meets the eye, because internal growth takes focusing on what needs to change, and that requires gaining a new perspective into the business.
With growth comes challenge. For Beau the first challenge was learning the restoration industry. He was able to translate previous construction knowledge to repairs, but he had to understand what caused property damage and how to fix it before he could even think about repairs. He learned about water damage (how to dry properly and avoid mold or any further damage) and fire damage (how to get the odor out of homes). The on-site processes weren’t the only new skills to learn. Beau had to navigate dealing with insurance, so he created processes and systems for how Disaster Response does what they do. These processes allowed Disaster Response to finetune their restoration and repair methods to meet insurance criteria and become more efficient. These challenges were necessary for growth and pushed Disaster Response and Beau to be better.
As the company was developing, Beau was living by his core values, and decided that it was time for Team DR to reach the same vision, so he created the Disaster Response Core Values: Excellence, Accountability, Dedication to Serve Humbly, and We Are Unified. Excellence; to be excellent in the work performed, how the team presents themselves, documentation, 5-star customer service, the experience for customers and adjusters, and for all employees to live by exacting standards. Accountability; accountability to customers, insurance, adjusters, and to each other. Dedication to serve humbly; to be truly there for the customer, to care and understand their needs, property damage emergencies could be a first-time experience for customers and being understanding to their position while serving them is key. We are Unified; Team DR, we work as a team and when somebody needs help, we step in. These core values are used to unite Team DR and give them a shared vision. They are what Disaster Response is at its core, what all employees work by and what Beau believes make the path for success and great customer service.
Before you can perform excellent service at customers homes, Beau believes you must focus on your team first. To him the most important thing about Disaster Response is his employees, he wants to bring out the best in people and encourage them to make
themselves better. One way he does this is by trying to promote from within, encouraging growth. He puts programs in place where employees feel like they have a path, an end goal. He also throws a company Christmas party every year to show his employees appreciation. A night where people from different branches can come together as Team DR, share stories, and get to know each other. He wants employees to look to each other like family and be surrounded by people they trust at work, to him a community within Team DR is a necessity. He wants to create an environment that people love, so they can be their best selves for customers in need of property restoration.
Despite the growth and success Beau has had in the restoration industry he didn’t initially plan on staying in the industry. For him it was a way to get back on his feet and stay in the construction realm. As he dug his toes in the industry began to take hold of him, the challenges that he faced and the people whose lives he helped restore stuck with him and compelled him to stay in the business continuing to expand and grow. Now it is more to him than a way to make money. He finds true passion and pride in what he has built. Beau’s key to success over the years has been nothing but determination, hard work, teamwork, listening, caring, and always making it right. He prioritizes 5-star service and has a drive for excellence. This has pushed him to stay up to date with technology and build relationships with those on Team DR, within the community, homeowners, insurance agents, and his own family.
