Steve Slepcevic — Disaster Response Coordinator

Steve Slepcevic’s career began in 1989 right upon completing courses in Architecture Design and Structural Engineering. Shortly thereafter, not only did he unveil his first contracting firm Paramount Disaster Recovery, Inc., specializing in disaster recovery, but he grew this firm into one of the largest disaster recovery general contractors in the United States. While spearheading his firm, Steve Slepcevic has led both a team of 60+ employees and a large workforce of subcontractors to handle various types of construction work performed within “wide-area” disaster zones. To date, Steve Slepcevic has restored more than 7,500 properties and has professionally assisted his clients as a construction expert on over 14,000 storms, fire, flood, and earthquake-related projects. He has completed projects for major hotels and restaurants, office buildings, commercial developments, apartment buildings, community associations, and residential property owners. Relevant experiences include Hurricanes Andrew, Allison, Erin, Opel, Ivan, Charley, Katrina, Wilma, Gustav, Ike, Irene, Sandy, Matthew, Harvey, Irma, Maria, Florence, Michael, Dorian, Laura, Sally, among others both locally, nationally and internationally.

Steve Slepcevic has, moreover, handled thousands of earthquake, hail, tornado, wildfire, and storm-related projects as a consultant for restoration companies, public adjusting firms, and attorneys both in the United States and Internationally. Steve Slepcevic has been routinely retained as a disaster response consultant to oversee the mitigation companies, engineers, certified industrial hygienists, roofing contractors, forensic experts, adjusters, and attorneys, including being personally qualified and serving as an expert witness on cases pertaining to disaster planning, disaster response procedures, construction best practices, installation procedures, identifying physical storm, earthquake, and other types of failure analysis, including among others, code compliance matters. Steve Slepcevic also has a significant amount of international experience, including commercial projects in Puerto Rico, Antigua, Canada, France, Serbia, New Zealand, Costa Rica, and Chile.

Since the inception, Steve Slepcevic has created, lived by, and managed holistic business operations with the objective to provide a top tier and premiere concierge disaster management service to clients in the industry. As a result, his level of communication and success on risk management, disaster preparedness, disaster response, disaster recovery, construction forensics, and providing outstanding results is unsurpassed in the industry. It is this steadfast belief and continual desire to facilitate a top-tier experience and process on behalf of property owners that ensures Steve Slepcevic will continue its exponential rise to the very top of the industry as the leading expert in the Disaster Management industry.

Steve Slepcevic lives with his family in sunny Southern California, where he spends most of his time when he is not saving communities caught in a disaster. He enjoys surfing, making music, and traveling with his family.

 

Strategic Response Partners Readies for Earthquake Responses and Offers Tips to Public for Staying Safe and Protecting Property

LOS ANGELES, Aug. 18, 2020 — With its decades of experience, Strategic Response Partners (SRP) lives and breathes planning for and rapid response to all sorts of catastrophic natural disasters. In fact, the Los Angeles-based firm has a well-earned reputation as a leader in the field. In line with its position as an innovator and the nationwide “go-to” disaster preparedness and response firm, SRP continues to lead the path forward in preparing for and responding to all earthquake-related issues. With the number of earthquakes occurring and predictions of more continually on the rise, SRP has made it a top priority to help the general public, commercial building owners, schools, hospitals, and critical infrastructure become well-prepared for the so-called “Big One.”

SRP has become a company that thousands of clients worldwide depend on. It even has a technical rescue team that is activated when individuals may be trapped in compromised structures or by fallen debris.

SRP’s Managing Partner Steve Slepcevic points to various recent seismic events and scientific findings to emphasize the importance of preparedness:

• A 5.1 magnitude earthquake struck North Carolina last week — the largest quake to hit the state since 1916, according to the National Weather Service.
• The Salt Lake Valley of Utah experienced a 5.7 magnitude earthquake in March.
• The U.S. Geological Survey last week noted a swarm of minor earthquakes near California’s Salton Sea that raises concern about the potential for a larger temblor at the San Andreas Fault. Such a swarm is atypical for this particular part of the state.
• Geologists predict a chance of a magnitude 9-plus earthquake hitting Oregon and Washington in the next 50 years and a nearly 40 percent chance of a magnitude 8 to 9 earthquake hitting Southern Oregon and/or Northern California.
• This month, scientists for the first time confirmed the existence of extremely powerful “boomerang” earthquakes, opening the possibility of even more devastating types of seismic events.

Taking into account his decades of experience, Slepcevic also recommends: “By taking some simple steps in advance of an earthquake or other natural disaster, people can help save lives and prevent injury, all while decreasing the extent of damage to their homes, businesses, property, and personal possessions, as it is also very important to arm oneself with basic knowledge about what causes earthquakes and, in turn, the hazards that can occur.”

Earthquakes occur when rocks underground break along a fault line, resulting in seismic waves that cause the ground to shake. This shaking can last for a few seconds or up to several minutes and can vary in the degree of strength. For Californians, earthquakes are a common occurrence, and Los Angeles is especially susceptible due to its proximity to multiple faults, including the San Andreas Fault, where two tectonic plates come together. This geological phenomenon sits within 35 miles of Los Angeles, subjecting the city to more frequent and stronger quakes than other cities.

Slepcevic further cautions that when an earthquake strikes, landslides, mudslides, and avalanches can occur and structures, whether large or small, can sustain extensive damage. Likewise, saturated soil can cause buildings to sink. Ground displacement and shifting, flooding, and fires also commonly occur as a result of nearby seismic activity.

As a result of the ever-increasing concern of future seismic activity, Slepcevic and his critical response team at SRP recommend a few basic actions that all home and business owners can take to help protect people and property. Specifically:

1. Secure bookshelves and dressers to walls.
2. 2. Apply an adhesive, such as museum putty, to objects on tables.
3. Install clips and clasps on cabinet doors to prevent glasses and plates from sliding out and breaking on floors.
4. Hire a plumber to install earthquake-safety shut-off valves that will quickly turn off the gas supply in the event of a quake
5. Develop a communication and evacuation plan with employees or loved ones.

There are additional preparedness tools such as mobile apps available for iPhones and Androids that can provide statewide earthquake early-warning alerts. Additionally, Oct. 15 is designated as International Shakeout Day, where people around the world are encouraged to practice their earthquake communication and evacuation plan from each applicable location.

While basic earthquake-preparation steps are always recommended for individual homeowners, commercial building owners, municipalities, schools, hospitals, daycare centers, nursing homes, and all other critical infrastructure, each should have a well-vetted emergency disaster preparedness plan in place prior to any catastrophic natural disaster, including an earthquake. Having the right plan in place, created by those in the know, can make all of the difference to a business’ ability to survive and recover from a natural disaster. According to Slepcevic, SRP can provide each of these entities with a detailed review of their disaster preparedness plan by its world-renowned team of disaster planners and structural engineers to help ensure their current strategy is comprehensive and effective. SRP even assists businesses in designing and implementing a custom disaster preparedness plan.

“Even if disaster strikes and you don’t have any policies, procedures or plans in place, rest assured, it’s not too late for us to deploy the necessary assistance. We also advise the public to immediately call us following a quake so our engineers and technicians can review the structural integrity of their home or business and perform necessary emergency work to avoid collapse, injury or even death,” stressed Slepcevic. “Our emergency service crews also stand ready to check for and stop gas leaks that can cause fires and explosions, and to correct water damage from burst pipes and other sources.”

SRP has become a company that thousands of clients worldwide depend on. It even has a technical rescue team that is activated when individuals may be trapped in compromised structures or by fallen debris. “Anyone familiar with California’s history with earthquakes knows the incredible damage that can be done to property and the number of lives that can be lost when a major one strikes. As these incidents are becoming more prevalent and frequent, we all need to be vigilant in planning and preparing,” added Slepcevic.

SRP’s rapid response team of experts specializes in disaster preparedness, response, and property restoration management resulting from earthquakes, fires, water, wind, hail, hurricanes, explosions and other event-driven disasters, providing complete disaster project management for residential, commercial, industrial, institutional, municipal, and historic properties.

For more information, go to srp24.com or call (888) 582–5848.

Media Contact: Steve Slepcevic, (888) 582–5848 or response@srp24.com

Related Images

strategic-response-partners.png
Strategic Response Partners technical rescue team on site in the aftermath of an earthquake
SRP has become a company that thousands of clients worldwide depend on. It even has a technical rescue team that is activated when individuals may be trapped in compromised structures or by fallen debris.

srps-engineers-and-technicians.png
SRP’s engineers and technicians review structural integrity of buildings and homes following earthquakes
SRP advises the public to call them immediately following a quake so its team can check their home or business’ structural integrity and perform necessary emergency work to avoid collapse, injury or even death.

srp-offers-preparedness-tips-for.jpg
SRP offers preparedness tips for protecting lives and property in case of an earthquake
With the number of earthquakes occurring and predictions of more continually on the rise, SRP has made it a top priority to help the general public, commercial building owners, schools, hospitals, and critical infrastructure become well-prepared for the so-called ‘Big One.”’

Related Video

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SyunFDIB_Jk

SOURCE Strategic Response Partners

Related Links

http://www.srp24.com

Master of Disasters

Steve Slepcevic

When Steve Slepcevic was 5 years old, his father asked him what he wanted to be when he grew up.

Young Slepcevic said he did not know. But his father did.

“He said, `You’re going to be a doctor. So tell people to call you Dr. Steve,”‘ Slepcevic, more than three decades later, recalled his father saying. “So people started calling me Dr. Steve.”

But Slepcevic eventually dropped the nickname. The son of strict Serbian immigrant parents never made it to medical school.

Instead, he dropped out of Hawthorne High School in the 11th grade to pursue a career in construction.

“I was probably 15 or 16 when I made my mind up that I loved framing and building and being in the outdoors,” Slepcevic said. “And I don’t think he was disappointed because he saw that I was good at it.”

Today, Slepcevic, 50, owns Paramount Disaster Recovery, a Rolling Hills Estates construction company that specializes in rebuilding businesses and homes hit by disaster.

He also organizes conferences to teach businesses and institutions how to deal with natural and man-made disasters.

Slepcevic organized conferences in 12 cities nationwide last year and expects another dozen this year. Attendance ranged from about 150 to 200 at each event, with representatives from businesses, government agencies, hospitals, universities and other institutions attending.

Speakers discuss such topics as data recovery, evacuation plans, stabilizing a building and dealing with insurance companies.

“I found that the businesses that had their plans in place, they had a better chance of recovering than those that didn’t,” he said. “So I set up a second company that has an educational conference called the Disaster Preparedness Summit. Those who respond quickly and effectively save a ton of money and reopen quicker.”

Slepcevic’s first experience with a hurricane came in 1992, when he went to Florida for a project after Hurricane Andrew. He rebuilt a retirement home owned by the parents of a friend.

“It was my first taste of wide-area disaster recovery,” Slepcevic said. “I had done fires and floods in California but on an individual basis. After Florida, I started to realize I wanted to do more wide-area disaster recovery.”

He went on to do work in the aftermath of other hurricanes and disasters, including the 1994 Northridge earthquake and Hurricane Katrina in 2005 on the Gulf Coast.

Slepcevic said he did about $18 million in renovation work from the Northridge quake and $8 million to $9 million from a massive 1995 Texas hail storm.

The Southern California wildfires have kept him “really busy,” he said.

But he has also lost money on some projects.

“I worked Katrina, and we had an office set up in Slidell, La. We made money, but we also lost money because we had some clients who didn’t pay,” he said. “I’m still collecting.”

Slepcevic was born in Akron, Ohio, the middle child between four sisters. The family moved to California a year later.

At 12 years old, he began to help out after school and on weekends with his uncles, who were general contractors.

“At 12 years old, digging ditches and pouring concrete was the norm,” he said.

By the time he was in high school, Slepcevic often worked until 9 or 10 at night.

“At that time, I recognized he had a gift for it,” said his uncle Batta Vujicic who now owns Prime Development in Westlake Village. “And he loved the field. He made a passionate jump into it. And I thought that was going to hold him on for years to come.”

Slepcevic took his first solo project at age 17. His friend’s parents in Hawaii wanted to build a two-car garage.

In about eight days, Slepcevic, with the help of his friend, built the garage.

“There was no money to be made. They gave me room and board and the flight (ticket),” Slepcevic said. “My whole thing is I wanted to get done and get out there and surf.”

Slepcevic then started his own business and bid on his uncles’ jobs while taking engineering and design classes at El Camino College.

“I was doing framing, windows, cabinets, doors,” he recalled.

By 1989, he had acquired his own business license and named his Hawthorne firm Paramount Construction.

He built homes and shopping centers. He eventually began to complete unfinished construction projects that were abandoned by the owner after a foreclosure.

He also started to work on homes that were damaged by fire or flood.

Slepcevic relocated his business to Rolling Hills Estates in 1999.

In 2002, as his disaster work grew, he began Paramount Disaster Recovery.

He says the disaster work is more satisfying.

“I realized, even going to Katrina and seeing people’s faces of confusion and not knowing what they were going to do, these people needed someone to lead them out of their situation,” Slepcevic said.

Name: Steve Slepcevic

Age: 50

City of residence: Hollywood Riviera section of Torrance

Title: Owner of Paramount Disaster Recovery in Rolling Hills Estates

Education: Dropped out of school in junior year; took some architecture and structural engineering classes at El Camino College.

Family: Wife Tracy; daughters Victoria, 22, and Kaitlyn, 18; and son Noah, 13.

Hobbies: Oil painting, surfing, dancing, storm chasing, drones, traveling.

Article: https://www.sgvtribune.com/2008/02/03/master-of-disasters/

INSURANCE COMPANIES USE PUBLIC MEDIA TO DEFACE DISASTER RECOVERY AGENCIES.

Steve Slepcevic

Jun 25

PALOS VERDES, CA — In this tough economy everyone is watching their spending, trying to make that buck stretch just a little further, and insurance companies are no different. If you have ever had to make a claim, you may already be aware of the problems associated with getting what is fair. The people effected in some of the recent disasters, Hurricane Katrina and Rita and the California wildfires, know all too well what it is like to not receive a fair claim payment from their insurance companies, you’re better off believing a poker player than a insurance claims adjuster. It’s never a bad idea to hire a water and fire damage restoration company to complete an independent assessment and cost estimate. Hopefully, you won’t need it, but if legal action becomes necessary, it’s a handy document to have in your corner. So when people like Steve Slepcevic and his team of experts arrive on the scene to try to make a difference, sometimes the insurance companies fight back with lawsuits and media slander. Steve Slepcevic has focused his construction business on restoring and reconstructing homes and businesses directly and exclusively for the property owners after natural disasters.

For those that don’t know him, Steve Slepcevic has more than 25 year’s experience in the disaster reconstruction industry that can be first traced back to his younger years when he worked for uncles that were in the industry, everything from cabinetmakers to large-scale developers.

Since 1989 Steve Slepcevic has completed several thousand projects with the goal of getting their clients fully restored and rebuilt through the client’s insurance companies. As for his passion in helping natural disaster victims Slepcevic says, “At a young age I was always troubled watching the floods and fires on TV and seeing peoples lives and homes destroyed, my thought always went to who is going to help these people rebuild their homes, businesses and restore their lives”.

Insurance companies are in a business of collecting premiums, not paying claims, and to do so they tend to undercut their policyholders claims. Thousands of complaints with state insurance departments and civil court cases show that insurance companies often pay 30–60 percent of the cost of rebuilding a damaged home. Paying less to victims of natural disasters has helped produce record profits. Even after the worst natural disaster in U.S. history, Hurricane Katrina, insurance companies reported their highest ever profit of $73 billion.

“Money managers have taken over this whole industry. Their eyes are not on people who are hurt but on the bottom line for the next quarter” says Robert Hunter insurance director at the Washington-based Consumer Federation of America, who was Texas insurance commissioner from 1993 to 1995.

In order to keep stockholders happy by continuing to make those record breaking profits insurance companies implement numerous delay tactics, from transferring claims to several adjusters to try to lower claim amounts, to using a list of “preferred” engineers, consultants, and industrial hygienists who will not perform proper testing on contaminated areas. In the end the insurance company’s adjuster has the leverage to deny or lowball the claim value.

As hard as it is for victims of natural disasters to work with the insurance companies it is even harder for those people, such as Slepcevic, that are trying to help victims outside of the insurance companies influence. It hasn’t been an easy road for Slepcevic and his team of experts, but their passion to help out homeowners that are trying to rebuild their lives after a natural disaster outweighs any shady tactics the insurance companies try to use to discredit them.

“I know it may be a rough road working through the trenches hand in hand with my clients, but this is why I got in the business as a small boy sitting in his living room watching the people suffered in the disaster devastated areas and thinking I’m going to grow up and help these people rebuild their lives, I had no idea that it would be a huge price to pay in the form of slander and lies” says Slepcevic, “the insurance carriers spend a lot of money in an attempt to keep me from teaching people what they need to do to avoid being victimized by unscrupulous contractors and insurance adjusters. Sometimes when you have something really important for people to know that somebody, somewhere in power doesn’t want them to know, you’re going to eventually pay a price for it.”

Steve Slepcevic and his team of certified and licensed contractors are just one of many groups out there trying to make a difference. Every time there is a win for their clients whether through one of the law cases, complete reconstruction, such that the client receives the full value of the claim, the insurance companies just fight back harder with lawsuits, fraud complaints, slanderous articles and posts.

Unfortunately not all disaster recovery agencies are as forthcoming and upfront as Steve Slepcevic. Like any industry when there is an opportunity to exploit people to make money there are some bad apples that take advantage of people in need, usually ruining the reputation for the actual good ones out there.

Slepcevic says his final piece of advice if all else fails is to contact a lawyer, “We recommend one of the large law firms such as Myers, Widders, Gibson, Jones and Snyder, Girardi and Keese, Kabateck Brown Kellner, Stone, Rosenblatt & Cha, Thornhill Law Partners, Steven Zelig or others that take bad faith actions on for the consumer”.

About Paramount Disaster Recovery Inc.:

Steve Slepcevic’s founded Paramount Disaster Recovery has been helping individual homeowners, business owners, and homeowner associations (HOA) with their roof repair needs, including roof consultants, insurance claim consultants, and roofing contractors. Steve Slepcevic is a proud member of the Building Owners & Managers Association International, the Community Associations Institute, and the National Institute of Disaster Restoration.

Contact:-
Steve Slepcevic
310–265–8846
Paramount Disaster Recovery Inc.

More info Visit:-http://www.spoke.com/profiles/SteveSlepcevic and http://california.realestaterama.com/2011/01/27/steve-slepcevic-disaster-recovery-plans-help-to-minimize-the-disasters-impact-ID0931.html

Company :-Paramount Disaster Recovery Inc.