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Florida Disaster Relief Efforts Supported by Signature Special Event Services

FREDERICK, MARYLAND, October 21, 2004 – Signature Special Event Services, which became North America’s leading full-service event rental company through service to corporate, social, and sports events, has been hard at work since mid-August supporting disaster relief services in Florida and Alabama, helping workers put the state’s infrastructure back to work after the devastation of four hurricanes.

A ‘very proud’ Tom Brown, president of Signature Special Event Services, spoke of his company’s efforts following “the horror and destruction of Charley, Frances, Ivan and Jeanne” the four hurricanes that struck Florida, as well as Alabama and other parts of the South and Southeast.

Brown said Signature Special Event Services was able to respond quickly to local needs through its regional offices, including Orlando, serving client organizations including Florida Power & Light, BellSouth and FEMA.

‘Working Hand-in-Hand Around the Clock’
“We were able to quickly respond to the needs of client companies needing temporary housing, mobile kitchens, HVAC (heating, ventilation, and air conditioning), refrigeration, and power generation,” said Brown. “We worked hand-in-hand with our clients, providing services to help them as their people worked around the clock to help others in desperate need.”

Various sites from Pensacola to Miami, and the neighboring state of Alabama, were the recipients of Signature’s tents, ranging in size from 10’ x 10’ to 66’ x 200’, for sleeping, eating, meeting and storage, lighting, and HVAC -- including 5 to 150-ton air conditioning units and 50 to 250-kilowatt generators.

“Signature Special Event Services had as many as 20 sites up at once and 50 people working around the clock to provide tents, power, HVAC and other services when they were desperately needed,” Brown said. “We built and serviced emergency locations including the Daytona Motor Speedway, West Palm Beach, the Florida Mall, the Martin County Airport, Pensacola, and other sites. Each site provided a “Command Central” staging areas where workers could eat, shower, sleep, gather supplies, and meet. Our personnel worked closely with United Rentals which provided equipment including forklifts, palette jacks, light towers and other equipment necessary to get the staging areas up and running.”

‘Never Has Our Work Been So Important’
“Signature Special Event Services has served many prestigious clients, including the Super Bowls, the Olympics, PGA golf, and many other events, before; but never have we been part of such a collective humanitarian effort as we experienced in both Florida and Alabama…never has our work been so important and so desperately needed,” said Brown. He also added that based upon his company’s experience in this relief effort, Signature Special Event Services is currently developing a new emergency/disaster relief division that will be able to quickly respond to the needs of any future crisis.

About Signature Special Event Services
Signature Special Event Services is North America’s leading full-service event rental company, serving the corporate, sporting and social event industries. The company services and supports a wide-range of event rental equipment, including temporary and mobile structures, flooring, lighting, climate control, power generation and distribution, and kitchen facilities, including cooking and catering equipment. Based in Frederick, Maryland, with offices throughout the U.S., Signature Special Event Services has been a trusted provider for such prestigious clients as the Super Bowl, the Olympic Games, PGA championship events, and the U.S. Military.

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