Brothers Find Business Support in Aftermath of Fire

The building that housed their political consulting, direct mail, and printing agency burned down the day after the Nov. 2 election, but brothers Fred and Gary Thomas are determined to rebuild and grow even bigger and stronger. “All we lost was some property, we didn’t lose our business,” said Gary Thomas, owner and senior vice president of consulting firm Aaron, Thomas and Associates. “We’ll be moving to a bigger and better location soon.” A fire that started around 6 p.m. on Nov. 3 engulfed the building at 9260 Owensmouth Ave. in Chatsworth, which housed the consulting firm and its subsidiaries Engage Marketing, a direct and digital mailing company, and Coronet Printing. It took 200 firefighters and nearly five hours to put the fire out at the 16,500-square-foot building, which left an estimated $7 million in damages, according to Thomas. The blaze destroyed the roof just 10 minutes after the fire was reported and intense heat caused a propane tank mounted on a forklift to explode, propelling shrapnel through a closed steel door, according to the LAFD. Fire department officials have ruled out arson, and although still under investigation, the flames may have been started by an electrical fire. The 25 year-old agency had just completed a record breaking election season, designing, printing and mailing more than 40 million pieces of mail in the last two months leading up to the mid-term elections. “It was our biggest season ever,” said Thomas. The companies produced direct mail for all the Propositions in California and also produced political mailers distributed in Missouri, Arkansas, Oklahoma and Washington. 16-hour shifts Prior to the elections, additional staff was brought onboard to handle the demand, and about 120 to150 people were working 16-hour shifts at any given time in the building. “If this had happened two weeks before this could have been much more devastating,” said Thomas. “The big thing for us was that everybody was safe; as far as the other loss, we have good insurance, we have a good policy and we should be able to rebuild without too much trouble,” he said. Thomas said the company has learned a few lessons from the tragedy including the value of good insurance and the necessity of a disaster management plan. But perhaps the most important lesson is one that could have cost them their business. “Businesses should make sure their data is backed up off site,” he said. “We had our data all backed up but it was on site.” Luckily the company has been able to retrieve data from hardrives in computers that were charred or suffered water damage. The Fire Department was able to retrieve other computers before they were significantly damaged. “Our data was so important to us that all our employees were cheering and applauding every time a firefighter retrieved a computer from the burning building,” said Thomas. Now the agency’s 50 employees are operating out of a temporary location on Variel Avenue in Chatsworth, which the company leased while they find a permanent location. Seeing a silver lining, Thomas said the agency had outgrown the space they had been in for 13 years and favorable real estate market conditions now provide an opportunity for the company to get a bigger and better place. “It’s an opportunity to go find exactly what we want,” he said. “Inventory is good, there are a lot of choices, and Chatsworth was recently named an enterprise zone which provides a number of incentives towards purchases.” Thomas said they anticipate hosting a grand opening celebration within three to six months, which will also be an opportunity to thank the many businesses and individuals who have helped them during the difficult time. “People have been amazing. That’s why it doesn’t hurt at all, nobody is sitting around depressed. [The community support] makes it feel a lot better.” Business support Thomas said local businesses offered space for them to use temporarily and even offered their employees temporary jobs, should they need them. “The Marriott has offered to hire some of our employees, and Westfield Topanga offered space for us to use as a temporary location, it’s been wonderful,” Thomas said. Recently Wells Fargo’s employees offered to help with a renovation project once the company picks a new permanent location. “Well’s Fargo called and said their employees wanted to paint the new place or do a project for us,” he said.