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W@H: Good Morning!

June 1st, 2020 by Tom Simmons


I’ve never been a morning person, despite always wanting to be one. That might be the biggest change in working from home. Mornings used to be a hazy sprint to the car to get in on time. Now mornings are a real breakfast, crisp air, singing birds, but maybe most of all it’s morning light. My work space at home sits next to the east facing bay window and perpendicular to a cracked window, that let’s in a brisk northern breeze. Cardinals, blue jays, goldfinches, and It’s a space filled with natural light. More than anything it’s that light I’d credit for the ease productivity that has marked this period of work from home for me. I’m located in a tiny out of the way town in rural Connecticut, in a serene little house that makes it far too easy to forget the state of the world around us.

 

It’s like we are split in two. Some like me live in the relative ease of quarantine, while others are out there, exposed, working to survive and saving others at the cost of their own safety, seeing this pandemic first hand. It’s a traumatic time for all but with such stark differences in how it’s experienced, I wonder how we will relate to one another as we move forward. There’s and overall feeling of guilt that comes with this placidity, guilt that it’s been so easy when so many others are suffering. There’s an enormous responsibility we owe one another in this time.

 

A big part of what keeps me going is knowing that the work we do, and that I market, helps. If you’ve seen our social media or webinars  you know HRP has been able to pivot our traditional safety services into a COVID-19 response, offering decontamination, preparedness planning, and construction oversite to public and private enterprises. For my part, I’ve helped write a lot of the copy that gets the word out on those services. I’ve also been learning how to run a webinar. We’ve been regularly scheduling COVID centered webinars with colleges and universities as well as attorney’s and tech companies.

 

We recently saw the funding awards for the 2020 EPA Brownfields grants, which means the time for communities and towns to start applying for 2021 is now. I’m working to identify communities across the country that HRP can assist. With the COVID crisis municipal resources are especially taxed and economic infusion especially desired. Part of the role I play in helping communities apply is articulating their vision for redevelopment of Brownfields sites.

 

If you think you can benefit from any of these services, by all means, send me an email or give me a call at (860) 674-9570. We’re still here, still working, from home, in the field. Wherever you need HRP, we’ll be there, moving your environment forward.

 


Tom Simmons, Marketing Assistant at HRP Associates, Inc.