When Frank Antonucci started working as a consultant in the property restoration business nearly 40 years ago, the competition among Westchester companies, he said, was virtually nonexistent.
Today?
“There are so many restoration companies you can”™t even count them,” said his son, Nicholas.
At Soundshore Restoration L.L.C. in Bedford Hills, the father-son partnership is helping to rebrand and grow the family”™s business as more and more Westchester companies enter the marketplace and are vying for contracts from insurance companies and local homeowners and businesses.
“When I started in ”™73, there were basically two restoration companies in Westchester,” said Frank Antonucci, who hails from Somers. “Now, I bet there”™s at least 50. There are just a ton of them working now.”
After working as a consultant to the insurance industry for years, Frank Antonucci founded Antonucci Consulting Corp. and Antonucci Construction Corp. in Ossining in 1996.
With the help of his sons Nicholas and Frank Patrick, the elder Antonucci opened a Steamatic Inc. cleaning and restoration franchise in Ossining in 2002, and after two years opted out in favor of opening an independent flood and fire restoration firm.
“I started in the industry 38, 39 years ago,” said Frank, president and founder of Soundshore Restoration, Antonucci Consulting and Antonucci Construction. “It just got to the point where we decided, let”™s branch out.”
As if that wasn”™t enough of a challenge, the Antonucci”™s are faced with having to market themselves under a new banner after changing their name from Interstate Restoration L.L.C. this past year in the wake of a trademark dispute with a Fort Worth, Texas-based company.
In the social media age, that is easier said than done, Frank said.
“I can fix any building that”™s been damaged by any occurrence,” he said. “But when it comes to the technological part and working with the computer, there are major, major headaches here.”
That is where his sons came into the picture.
“From my point of view, it”™s comforting to know that I have my sons who are going to look out for my best interests and the company”™s best interests. It makes it a lot easier for me,” Frank said. “I have a tremendous amount of confidence that my kids will be able to run the business far better than I have.”
Nicholas and Frank Patrick are general managers of Soundshore Restoration and Antonucci Consulting, respectively.
Since consolidating all three of the family”™s companies at the same Bedford Hills location in 2006, business has taken off, Nicholas said.
“We”™ve seen an increase ”“ a dramatic increase,” he said, adding that the central Westchester location was the right fit for the company. “It”™s where we do most of our work, where we are the most, and it fits perfectly.”
With 12 full-time employees, Soundshore Restoration does most of its business in the residential arena, with about 30 percent of all contracts being for commercial property restorations.
While the Antonucci”™s market themselves almost solely to insurance companies, the restoration business has received increasing interest from individuals and business owners looking stay ahead of flood and fire-related issues.
“What I”™ve found is people are being more proactive. With water damage in particular, people act much quicker now,” Nicholas said. “It”™s changed a lot simply because with mold issues coming into the forefront, insurance companies want to be more active to prevent further damage and further complications down the road.”
However, both Frank and Nicholas said there is still the potential for unforeseen damage despite the best preparations.
“We do a lot of work with the same groups of houses on the major flood plains,” Nick said. “”˜It happened again,”™ they tell me.”
The company primarily works in the tristate area, but had employees in Vermont in the wake of Hurricane Irene last year.
