By Robin GOLDSWORTHY

The worldwide pandemic had many people reassess their priorities, including how they did business. Many businesses were affected by COVID-19 with some not surviving the masking, closures and limited re-openings. While many had to “pivot,” that is rethink how to meet the needs of their customers in unusual circumstances, for some owners it was “business as usual.”

Consider Alpha Structural in Tujunga, a structural specialist and foundation repair contractor that is approaching its 30^th anniversary. Owner Dave Tourjé started the business at a time when there really wasn’t a foundation repair trade.

“I was a pioneer,” he said. “Foundation repair was not an established trade, like plumbing for example.”

Tourjé, who was raised in the Mt. Washington area of Eagle Rock, developed an affinity for working in the hills.

“I became a hillside expert, which was a short step to foundation repair,” he said, crediting Eagle Rock and Mt. Washington as providing the experience he needed to start his own company in 1993.

He said that establishing his business – and reputation – was propelled by El Niño  winters and earthquakes, adding that these disasters created a pool of houses that needed structural work.

“Realtors would call me,” he said. “I made myself available in the community. I didn’t use ‘scare tactics;’ I just went into a situation and made a fair assessment.”

Though he wasn’t “happy” with COVID from a business perspective, Tourjé said it was merely a “pinch” compared to what he has seen.

“If you stay focused, work harder and never quit you’ll be okay,” he said noting that the economic downturns of 1992 and 2008 were worse, in his opinion, than the challenges brought about by the pandemic.

He also credits a massive tome – his company’s manual that he wrote – with giving direction to his employees.

“I wrote the manual over the years, anticipating just about every scenario,” he said, adding that it provides a blueprint for how Alpha Structural will respond to whatever is thrown at it.

As the only foundation company in Los Angeles authorized to engineer and build, and having a high standard for hiring people, Tourjé feels his company can withstand just about anything.

“We’re the best structural engineers in North America,” he said. “I hire professional people who are not just talented but are also tough.”

His high hiring standards and the way he treats his employees are assets that cannot be compared.

“It’s too brutal a trade to not treat people right,” he said “We have a commitment to quality, a commitment to completion and are committed to not fail.”

That commitment to people – employees and customers – is echoed by Pete Smith, general manager of Bob Smith Toyota in La Crescenta.

“Happy employees will take care of customers,” Smith said. “We take care of our people so they can focus on our customers.”

Bob Smith Toyota, which has accrued 104 years in the auto business and 29 years serving the Crescenta Valley, made some essential changes when COVID hit.

“We had to figure out how to serve people who didn’t want to come into the dealership,” Smith said. That meant having an extensive online and electronic presence. Bob Smith Toyota also instituted a policy to pick up cars for service.A drawback to the lack of a one-to-one exchange with potential customers was not having the chance to correct the bad reputation that can sometimes crop up when one hears “car salesman.”

“We’re lumped in with a group that doesn’t have the best reputation,” Smith said. “But we’re just everyday folks – we’re not crooks.”

Happily, the expectation of having a negative experience is being reversed – by Bob Smith Toyota customers.

“People come away from buying a car or having their car serviced understanding that we are different,” said Smith. “We do care.”

He relayed a story from a recent Monday.

“This woman said how different our place is, that we’re different,” Smith said. “’You’re so nice here. It is true what I’ve read about you online.’”

Smith chuckles.

“My grandfather taught his boys and me: you take care of your people and they’ll take care of their customers,” he said. “It’s a generational thing.”