Storm & Security

PEOPLE IN THE KNOW 2015 / STORM & SECURITY PROTECTION 9 LINDA ESCHETTE has been a member of the IHPA board since 2009. She has been active in IHPA since its inception in 2000 and attends and participates in continuing education classes, although not required in the state of Louisiana. Eschette, along with her husband Greg, began an opening protection devices business, Nu Code Shutters & Security Systems, LLC, in May 1998 in Thibodaux, LA. She had been a paralegal for more than 13 years and the two had a genuine concern about what property owners in their surrounding areas had been relying on as storm protection. Eschette has been very active in participating with state and local government agencies with regard to opening protection. As a representative of the IHPA, she also worked with the Louisiana Office of Community Development to set forth guidelines for the Hazard Mitigation Grant Program for Individual Mitigation Measures, which included opening protection, wherein FEMA gave Louisiana a $650 million grant. With more than 3,500 installations completed, Nu Code Shutters & Security Systems, which does not use subcontractors, has never had an installation fail inspection by any government, insurance or third-party inspector. As such, Eschette has become renown in Louisiana for her knowledge of opening protection devices and has spoken to numerous building official groups as well as being a guest speaker at the Builder Official Association of Louisiana's (BOAL) annual convention. Eschette also has worked as a facilitator and instructor for the Family Violence Council of Terrebonne for six years teaching classes for individuals convicted of domestic violence. She holds a certification as Court Appointed Special Advocate (CASA), a volunteer association which advocates for the best interest of abused and neglected children. Outside of her work, Eschette's most recent passion is college softball—she has a daughter in college playing ball. "My husband and I have started a Showcase Softball Team wherein we have girls from our area compete against other teams and play in front of college coaches," she says. "Since we began the program in the fall of 2014, we have all of our 2015 graduates playing college softball, all of our 2016 graduates are committed, and about half of our 2017 players are already committed." DARIUS GRIMES currently is IHPA secretary and has served on its board of directors for 10 years. Grimes is CEO of Disaster-Smart Consulting Inc. (DSCI), a nationally recognized inspection and consulting company specializing in the identification and mitigation of risk affecting the resiliency and insurability of buildings in coastal communities. DSCI's clients include insurance companies, regulators, non-profits, realtors, builders and consumers. Consumers lacking awareness, often make improvements that fail to address or might even increase risk. DSCI uses a unique platform to assess risk and prioritize cost effective improvements to mitigate risk. The primary cause of rising damage is unrelated to the number or strength of storms, it is a lack of enforced codes in our coastal communities over the last 60 years of development creating trillions in vulnerable properties. Informed consumers and property owners change behavior and priorities adopting a "strategy of preparedness." This strategic, proactive approach is DSCI's Disaster Smart platform. Outside of his work, Grimes is a blues musician who enjoys fly fishing. SCOTT PURCELL has served on the IHPA board since 2013. He has been involved in the manufacturing of fabric hurricane protection since the late 1990s, and currently is vice president and general manger of Hurricane Fabric, LLC. Before his involvement in hurricane protection, Purcell's background was in the field of sail making, so it isn't surprising his passions outside of the industry are sailing and sailboat racing. FRANK BROWNING has served six years as a member of the IHPA board of directors—three as its president. He has more than 20 years experience in territory sales management, the last 11 with Wayne Dalton, a division of Overhead Door Corp. Browning is district sales manager for storm protection products for Wayne Dalton managing and developing existing and new dealers as well as sales and technical training for Fabric Shield storm protection products. He is involved in every aspect of the company's storm protection products from manufacture to customer service. Browning's outside interests include camping, fishing and spending time with his family. GREG MANN got into the hurricane protection industry in 1996 when he and his wife, Gaby, purchased All Points Screw, Bolt & Specialty Co., Pompano Beach, FL. Mann became a member of IHPA when the association first organized and was a member of IHPA's first board of directors. He was elected treasurer, which allowed him to put to use the skills he learned in college. It's a responsibility he enjoys today. All Points Screw, Bolt & Specialty Co. is a major supplier of hurricane hardware to the industry. Hurricane hardware includes fasteners and component parts to assemble and install all types of hurricane protection including impact windows. Mann enjoys and active lifestyle. His favorite hobby is hockey; he also enjoys skiing, hiking and mountain biking.

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