This past year is one that we won’t soon forget. From sector-wide business disruptions to widespread social and health challenges, virtually every facet of our economy and society has been affected by the coronavirus pandemic. Here at Parklane, we’ve been fortunate to not only weather the COVID-19 storm and maintain full operational capacity, but to expand our operations with a new U.S. presence.
Before we explain why this was the right time to make the move south of the border, some context. As a 30-year provider of turnkey noise control solutions from our headquarters in Ontario—a jurisdiction with some of the strictest noise ordinances in North America—we’ve built a strong reputation for delivering engineered solutions to customers that are forced to deal with unwanted noise challenges—either throughout their building design process, or emanating from existing mechanical componentry across their facilities. Those clients range from facility managers to property owners, engineers to contractors, and countless firms in between. Virtually all require a budget-friendly solution delivered quickly and with minimal impact to their operations. Needless to say, our work is often highly complex and multi-faceted.
Their sense of urgency is heightened by the fact that many of our customers face the threat of fines or legal challenges stemming from what are usually unexpected noise issues. Whether we are working directly with facility owner/operators, rep agencies, architects or contractors, there is an ever-evolving expectation for firms like ours to get the problem resolved quickly, seamlessly, and in their entirety. Our comprehensive turnkey delivery model has been developed over a 30-year tenure to achieve those exact results for our clients—no matter where they happen to be located.
In recent years, more of our customer inquiries and partner referrals have come from the U.S. As strict noise-control legislation has been introduced across an increasing number of U.S. states, organizations are being forced to implement noise-control strategies or assume the often costly and legally-daunting liability risks. Urban densification, new residential developments adjacent to industrial/commercial areas that house facilities such as data centres and factories, as well as a growth in awareness around the potential physiological and psychological impacts of unwanted sound, are all factors that have prompted lawmakers to require higher-risk organizations to monitor and mitigate their noise emissions on an ongoing basis.
Enter Parklane in the U.S. market.
Though servicing projects south of the border is not new to us, we acknowledged the growing demand for a local ‘boots-on-the-ground’ presence from our clients and industry partners.
This began with the rollout of our unique sales representation strategy, targeting mechanical sales reps in key territories that found value in adding a custom noise control provider to their line. Firms such as Trumbull Campbell & Associates and Chesapeake Systems helped pioneer the solutions-based sales agreement, targeting applications in both the pre-bid and post-bid scenarios.
With the successful rollout and continued expansion of our rep program, it was time to begin setting roots across the border.
Our Lead Engineer Jagannath Rajasekaran recently set up shop in Naples, Fla., to spearhead our U.S.-based operations. The Sunshine State proved a perfect beachhead for our American division given the strong demand for noise control solutions across the eastern seaboard.
“Our U.S. partners and customers appreciate our closer proximity and ability to cater to their unique needs, while adapting our turnkey, single-sourced responsibility model to suit American companies’ operational specifications,” Rajasekaran says.
“We work in a very niche field and provide a very comprehensive service, which means that we need to take a hands-on approach to ensure the project is executed to our standard.”
To ensure a seamless client experience, Rajasekaran and the rest of the Parklane operations team have been working diligently to build an extensive network of local installers and manufacturers, and partnering with local service providers such as structural and mechanical consultants, to work alongside our engineers and project managers as we deliver solutions. Each U.S.-based partner is carefully vetted and selected based on their ability to adhere to our strict service standards and technical delivery requirements.
“Our U.S. expansion model is designed to provide the very best level of service possible to our clients across the border,” explains Parklane President Matt Downey. “While this may be the next step in our growth strategy, our focus remains the same. We’re as committed as ever to maintaining the culture of collaborative, solutions-based design that has helped us build a strong industry reputation, along with our longstanding promise to customers that we simply won’t stop until the job is done right.”
In Downey’s view, the real opportunity lies in helping U.S. customers better understand and manage their noise issues before they pose a risk to the organization’s bottom-line. As noted in one of our recent blogs, the key steps to mitigating sound problems include identifying the cause with an Acoustic Assessment Report and enlisting the right professionals. It then involves developing and managing an abatement strategy, while highlighting potential mitigation options and determining how an eventual solution can be integrated with any existing mechanical equipment and a building’s structure. Managing often challenging logistical site constraints is another formidable hurdle to a project’s completion.
“Our mission is to help simplify the noise control process for our American clients, which means taking the burden of unwanted noise issues off their plate so they can continue managing operations and driving company-wide growth,” Downey says. “We’re excited that we are now well-positioned to help them achieve this level of success.”
The Parklane Team