Hawaii Self Storage served as a donation drop-off spot for prom dresses and accessories in conjunction with the Bella Project, a non-profit in Honolulu benefitting young women.

The Bella Project organizes an multi-location, annual event called the Bella Boutique, which is open to any high school teenager in need of gently used or new prom attire and accessories. More than 500 dresses, shoes, jewelry and toiletry items were handed out during the event last weekend. Last year, 300 items were donated and dispersed.

Hawaii Self Storage is locally owned by MW Group Ltd., a Hawaii property developer and manager, with more than 15 properties on Oahu and Maui.

New York City-based Storage Deluxe, an owner, developer and manager of self-storage properties, revealed last week it acquired two properties, one in Brooklyn and one in Queens, and plans to turn them into self-storage facilities.

The Brooklyn site, home of the former four-story Jewish Press Building, will become a 1,450-unit facility covering 84,000 square feet. The Queens site, specifically in the neighborhood Long Island City, will become a 1,450-unit facility covering 80,000 square feet. The Queens project will begin from scratch and result in a brand-new building. The two new locations are slated to open in early 2012.

In December 2010, Storage Deluxe opened a 1,250-unit, 80,000-square-foot facility in the College Point, Queens, neighborhood. The four-story facility is adjacent to a Home Depot parking lot.

Storage Deluxe continues to be committed to finding great locations in densely populated areas where we can add to our existing New York-metro area footprint. We know there is nothing the urban resident needs more than storage space, said company president Steve Novenstein.

When construction on its two news sites is completed, Storage Deluxe's portfolio will consist of 28 facilities, nearly 38,000 units and more than 2 million square feet of rentable space in the New York City metropolitan area.

A man was crushed and killed by rental truck at a Denver self-storage facility. 

Benjamin Dodt, 26, and a friend were loading or unloading items from a rented U-Haul truck at a Public Storage Saturday when the truck began to roll, police said.

Both men jumped in front of the truck to try and prevent it from hitting the building. Dodt apparently slipped on a patch of ice and was trapped between the truck and the wall of the building. Investigators said Dodt suffered a crushed skull and died at the scene. The friend was not injured.

 

A-AAA Key Mini Storage in Orlando, Fla., participated in a community cleanup Saturday. Dubbed, Clean Up Semoran!, the event encouraged volunteers from the community to collect trash along the roadway from Curry Ford Road to Lake Underhill Road.

Volunteers met at A-AAA Key Mini Storage, 1001 S. Semoran Blvd., at 10:30 a.m. Equipment for the event was provided.

The Amsdell family of companies recently acquired Moore Self Storage, a 646-unit facility in Pittsburgh for an undisclosed amount.

Built in 1999, the 41,125-square-foot facility was converted from a warehouse to self-storage about 10 years ago. The storage center currently offers climate-controlled units; truck rental and boxes and packing supplies will soon be added.

Amsdells growing self-storage portfolio also includes the purchase of three properties in the Detroit metro area, in addition to several existing locations throughout Florida and Ohio. The new facilities are all operated by Compass Self Storage LLC, a member of the Amsdell family of companies.

We are excited to continue to add great properties to the Amsdell family of high-end self storage centers, said company president Todd Amsdell. We are thrilled to expand our service area in Pittsburgh and to continue offering quality self-storage and moving solutions to our customers. We plan to continue to expand throughout the greater Midwest and look forward to growing the Compass Self Storage brand.

Dan Burkons and Richard A. Schontz, investment specialists in the Cleveland office of Marcus & Millichap Real Estate Investment Services represented the seller and the buyer. Spencer Yablon, broker of record in Pennsylvania, assisted in closing the transaction.

Headquartered in Cleveland, Ohio, the Amsdell Cos. draw their roots from the family-owned construction company founded in 1928. Since that time, the company has since been active in several billions of dollars worth of real estate ventures with a primary focus on self storage.

The Chamberlain Group, an Elmhurst, Ill.-based manufacturer of self-storage access-control products, plans to create up to 100 jobs in Elmhurst over the next four years.

The company will invest more than $6 million to open a 23,000-square-foot Innovation and Design Center. Chamberlain also received more than $1 million in state funds to complete the project. The states aid package consists of Economic Development for a Growing Economy funds and the Employer Training Investment Program.

The Chamberlain Group has been headquartered in Elmhurst since 1967. The company currently employs 327 people at its headquarters and at its warehouse in Addison, Ill.

By Norm Spitzig

What exactly makes a workplace great? What are the characteristics common to those workplaces recognized as superior? Regardless of size or industry, a workplace can be considered great if it boasts all of the following attributes.

A Clear Mission

The best workplaces in the world have a clear purpose, a straightforward, concise mission statement that explains who the company is. The statement is readily understandable and enthusiastically embraced by every employee.

Such great companies have carefully identified those factors critical to their long-term success as well as generated a specific vision for the future. Great workplaces create detailed action plans and accompanying areas of responsibility to ensure their vision is more than some pie-in-the-sky dream. Its concrete, actionable, measurable andwith perseverance on everyone's partachievable.

A Trained Staff

Great workplaces have forward-thinking, creative senior management and a caring, well-trained staff. No workplace can remain superior over a significant period of time without quality leadership at the top as well as quality support staff. At great workplaces, everyone from the CEO to yesterday's hire are fully committed to doing whatever it takes to guarantee the company's ongoing success year in and year out.

Equally as important, great workplaces attract people from myriad backgrounds and with varying arsenals of professional and personal skills, talents that complement and enhance each other to the benefit of all employees as well as the customer base. At a great workplace, individuality is valued and cherished, but teamwork remains first and foremost.

Meaningful Work

A great workplace encourages employees to do what they deem as meaningful. Of course, the term denotes different things to different people. Whats meaningful for a CEO of a multi-billion dollar company may differ from that of a solo entrepreneur working at home. Both positions can be genuinely viewed as meaningful, depending on the perspectives of the individuals involved.

Malcolm Gladwell is correct when he notes in his book Outliers that, for most people, work is meaningful when its sufficiently autonomous, appropriately complex, and has a perceived direct relationship between the effort invested and the accompanying return. Great workplaces offer team members the opportunity for every employeeirrespective of their education, talents and experiencesto consistently do what they perceive as genuinely meaningful.

Rules and Policies

Reasonable, understandable and uniformly enforced work rules are the final piece to the puzzle.  Great workplaces have rules and policies that are reasonable, understandable and, perhaps most important, fairly and uniformly enforced. For example, if smoking is prohibited in the work environment, that means no one smokes, not even the CEO. The rules and policies at great workplaces are neither capricious nor arbitrary. They are not written in language so arcane that anyone but a senior tax attorney can comprehend.

Ideally, they are not written to prevent employees from doing something, but rather to set appropriate standards whereby all employees are assured the opportunity to maximize their potential. In short, great workplaces embrace rules and policies that reflect the core values of the workplace as well as the expectations of the employees and customers in a fair and logical manner.

A Blend of Tradition and Innovation

While great workplaces are environments where employees devote a significant amount of time to improving current products and services as well as creating new ones, they are also places where tradition and continuity are highly valued. Longstanding products and services are not whimsically eliminated to the detriment of loyal customers. Rather, theyre continually improved as circumstances dictate to the benefit of all concerned.

At great workplaces, all are aware and proud of their company's origins and heritage, growth and evolution, positive reputation in the community, quality products and services, mission for the present, and vision for the future.

Open Communication

Great workplaces have regular, honest communication between everyone involved in the long-term success of the company. Staff and customers are kept informed and encouraged to participate in the company mission, vision, policies and procedures as well as any significant changes under consideration. In other words, theyre given adequate opportunity to convey their ideas and suggestions to company leadership.

Managers at great workplaces are unwavering in their commitment to management by walking around, because they know this time-tested practice promotes open communication and minimizes potential problems. Great workplaces typically have company newsletters, both electronic and print, that regularly and effectively communicate the various opportunities available to staff and customers in an accurate and timely manner.

Fiscal Responsibility

Last, but certainly not least, great workplaces are fiscally prudent in the manner they operate. They have detailed, multi-year business plans that feature accurate income and expense projections, conservative cash-flow estimates, sufficient funding for research, development, infrastructure maintenance, renovation and expansion, and realistic cash-flow projections.

In addition, great businesses rigorously monitor and adjust their financial plans on a regular basis as circumstances dictate. They know exactly how much money will be required to provide the quality products and services their customers want and expect the specific costs associated with them. The long-term financial well-being of the workplace remains a high priority in the minds of all concerned.

A great workplace employs happy, productive and talented people who perform meaningful work compatible with the mission, vision and financial goals of the company. It takes constant effort and vigilance to be a truly great workplace, but the end result is well worth it.

Norm Spitzig is principal at Master Club Advisors, an executive placement firm for the private club industry. Hes a speaker and author of Perspectives on Club Management and Private Clubs in America and Around the World. For more information, call 352.735.5693; e-mail normspitzig@hotmail.com; visit www.masterclubadvisors.com.

The board of trustees for U-Store-It Trust, a real estate investment trust focused on self-storage facilities, declared a quarterly dividend of $0.07 per common share for the period ending March 31, 2011. The dividend is payable on April 22 to common shareholders of record on April 7.

U-Store-It owns and or manages 457 facilities across the United States, and operates the U-Store-It Network, which consists of approximately 722 additional self-storage facilities.