Twister hits Queens by Noel Thoman

On September 17th 2010 for the first time since 1985 a tornado touched down and hit Queens. Those of us working until close that night got to experience this first hand and I am sure it is something we will never forget.

While others were aware of the tornado warnings, everyone in the office had no idea of what was going on other than the fact that it was raining. I was trying to get my work done because it was starting to rain and I did not want to get soaked walking home.

Right before I started packing my things a the end of the of the day a co-worker walked into the management office to discuss a customer with me. About one minute into our conversation I heard a lot of noise coming from outside, it sounded like a bunch of bowling pins falling and the rain drops sounded as if they were golf balls falling from the sky.

It was at this point that most of us decided to get up and walk over to entrance to see what was going on because all the gates were down already and we could not see out the other windows. As we walked over to the window someone walked in from outside to get away from the rain. The gates started knocking against the windows and the doors were swinging open and then the power went out.

All of us were standing in a circle when another co-worker came running into the front door soaked. It was so bad outside that she left her car in the middle of 59th ave and later on found out that her car had an electric pole going through the roof.

Power lines started to fall and spark, there was a flash of light and then it went pitch black. It looked like a huge cloud went down 59th ave and then light started to break. When we all stepped outside we could not believe what we were seeing, trees and power lines were down everywhere.

The Facilities Manager pulled up to our rescue, asked if everyone was ok and like always took charge of the situation. It was not until about a half hour later until everyone decided to leave, One of the Managers and Technician drove everyone home and I started on my way home. As I was walking home there were trees down everywhere and traffic

was almost stopped, it was like a scene out of a movie.

Magic went without power through Friday night. Fortunately for the great staff we have, we were able to pull through even without power. I am personally thankful that everyone here at Magic made it safely through the storm.

On a lighter note I would like to thank Mother Nature for the beautiful new window by my desk.

Magic receives New York State Employer Recognition Award

As Marketing Director for Magic I am out at seminars and events promoting my company and seeking out strategic alliances that would move forward our business. The last two years we have had to tighten our buckle while maintaining a high level of service to our customers and employees. We were out sourcing our cleaning services, their performance was poor and cost high.

I ran into Iris Allen of VESID at an event and the idea struck me that we could do the right thing by hiring a disabled person, maintain the office work space at a higher standard and have the opportunity to grow as individuals… in sourcing... what a concept.

I ran the idea by our Facilities Manager Jimmy Tallman who got on the band wagon and then we presented the idea to ownership. The idea got their attention and within a few months Evie Torres our Office Manager started interviewing candidates for the position.

Evie’s told me about her experience, Working with VESID has been such a rewarding experience. When we agreed to work with the program I was not sure what to expect. The interview process was interesting and I could not believe some of the responses from the members of VESID interviewing for the position. When I asked several of the interviewees why they had arrived thirty to forty minutes prior to their scheduled interview, the general response was that they did not want to arrive late by missing the bus or getting lost on the way here. I knew then that the candidates interviewing meant business.

After a few interviews I met with David, I asked him about his previous work experience and his reasons for leaving. One of the things he expressed was that sometimes he’d be close to a job site and they would call him to let him know there was no more work for him and that he should go home. I felt terrible that anyone would take advantage of an employee and their time by not giving them sufficient notice. David interviewed really well, he has performed well on every task given to him and continues to learn the industry. At this time my only hope is that in the future we can hire someone else through VESID since our experience with David has been such a positive one.

The experience I believe is all about David. He is intelligent, highly motivated, a fast learner and takes constructive criticism well. He mastered his job duties so well that I sought to expand his duties states Jimmy the Facilities Manager. In addition to his maintenance duties I put David in charge of the paper room (office storage) and our chemical storage facility. He maintains the stock and process chemical requests from our thirty technicians. I was able to rewarded David with a raise and expand his hours. I wish I could clone David, we really hit one out of the park by hiring him says a smiling Jimmy.