Parker Finch helps communities keep ‘curb appeal’

Jim Small just signed a lease on his company’s third office in three years, and said he’s already running out of space.

The president and chief executive officer of Parker Finch, a community management firm, said the company has grown dramatically since he started it out of the spare bedroom of his house three years ago.

“If we deliver on what we’re supposed to do every day, growing is easy,” Small said.

Parker Finch provides services to homeowner associations and developers, to make sure the community looks its best and to “increase curb appeal.” The company makes weekly or bi-weekly inspections in its clients’ neighborhoods, checking for proper upkeep and yard care.

If, for example, a yard has weeds growing as tall as the house, Parker Finch will make arrangements with the homeowner to have a landscaper take care of it.

“If we do our job, everyone’s home values go up.” Small said, “You really get to impact people’s lives in this industry.”

Parker Finch is the first company in its field to offer franchising opportunities, which Small said really marked a turning point for the business.

“It changed the whole ball game for us,” Small said.

Small said he liked the idea of branching out to other markets, but the Arizona native said he has little knowledge on things like snow removal or hurricane shutters. He decided the business would benefit more from people who are familiar with the regions and how to deal with conditions specific to those places.

“Franchising the business allows us to have local knowledge where local knowledge is needed,” Small said.

Parker Finch became a franchising company in the first few months of 2006, and has since opened operations in Colorado and Nevada. Small expects to open more franchises throughout the Southwest in the coming months as well.

Because homeowner associations are mandated by the government for new master-planned developments, Small said the industry is practically recession-proof. According to the Community Associations Institute, about 286,000 association-governed communities exist in the United States in 2006, with an estimated 100 homeowner associations coming online every day.

To better educate the association leaders in each community, Parker Finch offers training sessions to all of its new clients on the rules and procedures involved in running a homeowner association. The firm also offers sessions in the winter, when new members are typically elected.

“Professional management is indispensable,” said Frank Rathburn, vice president of communications for the Community Associations Institute. “They provide the professionalism, knowledge and experience that few self-managed associations can provide for themselves.”

Parker Finch also offers online services where homeowners can submit requests, pay dues, check their account balance, download association documents, and even share recipes and plan block parties.

Small said his goal for Parker Finch is to become the most sophisticated and recognized leader in community management, or in other words the Nordstrom’s of its industry.

Jim Small

FAMILY: Wife, Audra, and children Sophia, 2, and Isabella, 4 months

RESIDES IN: Chandler

KEY ACHIEVEMENT: Both improving the lives of homeowners and providing jobs for his 30 employees

SUCCESS PHILOSOPHY: If you do what’s right and you know the purpose for doing it, success will follow

INFORMATION: (602) 508-1974 or

www.parkerfinch.com