BM_FallStrategies2020-FINAL

CUSTOMER PROFILE

“It was very surreal—my whole life was on the ground. My house is only a block from the business. There was no power in town, people couldn’t come into Burke, and I couldn’t do anything at the lumberyard immediately after as we waited on our adjuster to come assess the damage.” —Jason Witt, co-owner, Burke Building Center

buy or rent the facility since the store was gone. “Others were looking at the building too, but we were able to buy it because we reached out first,” Jason says. “We had quite a bit of renovations to do on the property, but we were in a great position because we had our second store where our employees were able to work and we were able to continue helping pick the town back up.”

“My house is only a block from the business. There was no power in town, people couldn’t come into Burke, and I couldn’t do anything at the lumberyard because we were waiting for our adjuster to come assess the damage.” The Witt family immediately began making plans to remain a fixture in town. After the storm, Bryan asked the owner of a building on the highway going into town and if they could

“When I saw the lumberyard completely flattened, I was in shock,” Jason says. “I called my dad and asked what he was doing, and he said he was going to go check on the business. I had to break the news to him that it was gone.” While Jason was very happy that no one was seriously injured or killed from the tornado, the days following the storm were a whirlwind for him. “It was very surreal—my whole life was on the ground,” he says.

In the days following the tornado, Jason Witt was surrounded by the devastation. In addition to cleaning up the town, the Witt family immediately began working on preparing their new location. After a year of work, he and his sons now enjoy being in the new Burke Building Center.

30 Fall 2020 • Hardlines Strategies