January 7, 2020
Dear Berkshire Clients and Residents,
As COVID-19 continues to spread and the resulting circumstances evolve, we wanted to update you on what we are doing in response.
The health, safety and well-being of our employees, residents, investors, partners and the broader communities in which we operate are of the utmost importance to us. We continue to monitor the situation closely and have taken the advice from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), the World Health Organization (WHO), and federal and local health agencies as we work diligently to support healthy working and living environments at our offices and our properties around the U.S. Berkshire believes it is important to do our part to “flatten the curve”.
To help develop and guide our strategies, we have assembled several response teams that are focused on property operations and corporate operations specifically. The teams have been tasked with a focus toward achieving the successful implementation of policies across our national organization on an ongoing basis.
Corporate Responses:
- Berkshire maintains thorough Business Continuity and Pandemic Preparedness Plans and has implemented various aspects of both to address the current concerns
- Eliminated all non-essential business travel
- Beginning Friday, March 13th, we encouraged all employees in our regional and corporate offices to work from home and each has been equipped with the necessary technology to allow for that to occur
- All in-person meetings have been cancelled and moved to audio and video conferencing, including our 2020 Annual Client Conference
Property Level Responses:
The residents in our apartment properties around the country rely on Berkshire and we take that responsibility very seriously. We have been actively responding to the conditions to uphold this important responsibility.
- Closed community common areas and amenities
- Increased cleaning and sanitation of frequently accessed areas including main entrances, elevators and package areas
- Offices are closed to the public and the property teams are focusing communications through the resident portal, email, text and phone to address any resident questions, avoiding face-to-face meetings
- Prioritizing service requests based on urgency
- Moving to virtual leasing
- Implemented notice and quarantine protocols for any residents who are sick
We are prepared to navigate through these challenging circumstances on your behalf and will keep you apprised of our ongoing effort. Thank you for your trust in Berkshire.
Stay safe and healthy,
Berkshire Residential Investments