EPISODE504 - Joe Ledbetter & Andy McCabe – Who are the Restoration Rebels?

This week on IAQradio+ we welcome two of the founders of the Restoration Rebels. The disaster restoration industry is going through trying times and the rebels’ mission is to take back the industry that they love. We will talk about the reason the group was formed, the current state of the industry, and what the future looks like with Andy McCabe and Joe Ledbetter. Andy McCabe is a long-time restoration professional who lives in Bend, OR. He has written a book for mitigation contractors called The 24HR TECH, created an online training course by the same name, runs a podcast called The Claim Clinic and is President of the Alliance of Independent Restorers. Andy started his career in restoration, after brief stints as an electrician and financial advisor, with Dow Columbia restoration based in Portland, OR. Murray Dow Sr., the founder, was an original member and past president of both the NIRC and ASCR. Andy has worked his way up through just about every position in the industry. During that time he witnessed two former employers go bankrupt, and saw the rise of the TPA. After starting an Xactimate estimating service, Claims Delegates in 2012, he began to see some common problems that contractors deal with nearly every day. The two biggest problems were declining profits and increasing overhead. Everyone saw it, but it seemed no one was willing to do anything about it. So Andy decided to do something. Since the spring of 2017, he has run a free, contractor-focused Facebook group called the Restoration Rebels. Restoration contractors come to the group to solve problems and create solutions. Membership sits around 2,400 people as of the time of this writing. Andy is a vocal advocate for restoration contractors internationally. Joe Ledbetter is the Owner and Senior Business Consultant for DISASTERCO.COM(previously Clean Source Consulting) of Warren, MI. He is also President – Founder of Mannle Construction in Warren, MI. Prior to founding his current companies he was the Co-Founder/President of the Cleaning Connection of Warren, MI and the Director of Business Development of Drytech Group, in Ottawa, CA. In 2016 Joe surpassed 1 billion square feet of mitigation to commercial buildings and 1,000’s of residential losses ranging in size from $5,000.00 to $200,000.00. He is also one of the Restoration Rebel Leaders and his role is to help build and grow the group through sharing his knowledge and experience and helping develop the management and revenue opportunit