First Response Disaster Team Doubles Staff and Moves into Larger Quarters

EDGEWATER, FL – First Response Disaster Team – a three-year-old emergency response company that extracts water, removes mold and restores damage from smoke – recently hired several employees and moved into a 1,000-square-foot facility at 2220 Hibiscus Drive in Edgewater. A member of the University of Central Florida Business Incubator at Daytona Beach International Airport, First Response doubled its staff to include four full-time technicians, an administrative assistant, and four part-time employees, says Anne-Marie Poulin√, who co-owns the business with husband Ken Poulin. “We’ve been able to grow quickly in part because of the help we’ve received from Connie Bernal√, the incubator’s site manager,” Anne-Marie Poulin said. “We also wanted to be closer to Interstate 95 so that we’d be within 60 minutes to most Central Florida locations, including Orlando, Flagler County and Brevard County.” The incubator–a partnership between UCF, Volusia County and the Florida High Tech Corridor Council –helps start-up companies as well as established businesses. Incubator clients can either lease space at the Daytona Beach International Airport incubator site or, as First Response Disaster Team does, participate as “off site” clients to receive access to mentoring and coaching opportunities; educational programs; marketing and public relations specialists; access to seminars; networking with peers; as well as office equipment and support services. Those who opt to locate at the incubator also benefit from affordable office space with a flexible lease. The First Response staff – which occasionally drives box trucks or tows a 26-foot trailer out of state to assist with damage caused by disasters such as hurricanes and major storms – is led by Ken Poulin, a Certified General Contractor and a Certified Mold Remediator. Having worked together for more than 20 years, the couple views their new venture as being recession proof. “No matter what; there will always be floods, fires and natural disasters,” Anne-Marie Poulin said.