Barb Jackson, CR

Barb Jackson entered the cleaning industry in 1980, providing customized residential and post-construction cleaning, building a loyal clientele based on customer service.

In 1990, Barb developed Restoration CleanUps, offering specialized fire, smoke and water damage restoration cleaning services to full-service contractors in the Pittsburgh and Western Pennsylvania market, many of whom are Restoration Industry Association (RIA) firms, formerly Association of Specialists in Cleaning and Restoration.

She has developed an operating model for her company which implements standards and procedures to manage the varied challenges of restoration cleaning and pack out situations. She has also shared her knowledge and experience as a full-time consultant to other companies, guiding the development of their systems and procedures, facility designs and set-ups.

Seeing the growing need for trained employees, she created procedures manuals and PowerPoint presentations. These provided detailed information on packing and cleaning techniques, including the following subjects:

  • Digital Photo Inventory
  • Structure Cleaning
  • Pack Outs
  • Proper Contents Handling Technques

Barb has been requested for speaking engagements at conferences for:

  • Tri-State Restorers and Specialty Cleaners
  • Restoration Industry Association
  • Crawford Contractor's Connections
  • Disaster Restoration Contractor
  • Rainbow International
  • DKI

Barb has received certifications in Odor Control, Carpet Cleaning, Leather Cleaning and Fire and Smoke Restoration categories through the Institute of Inspection, Cleaning and Restoration Certification (IICRC). She served as a founding member and President of the Restoration Alliance. As Training Director and Events Coordinator, she directed all contents restoration training for four years.

Barb has volunteered her time for the past 12 years to offer Contents Restoration and Pack Out presentations, and has shared in industry panels at Restoration Industry Assocation events.

She is also a Pack Out Inventory (POI) Certification Trainer with Assured Software, Inc.

She has organized multiple Contents Restoration workshops and coordinated to have other industry experts as key speakers.Her first workshop attracted 69 attendees; business owners and managers came to learn more about the new Contents Processing techniques and how using these could increase profits. As founding member and President of Total Contentz, LLC, she continues to help restoration professionals improve their contents processing capabilities with the latest technology and procedures.

Barb offers consulting and training services for full-service restorers and specialized cleaning contractors. Her particular areas of expertise are contents processing facility design; work flow and production strategies; on-site and warehouse contents processing procedures; and contents packing techniques. Her design projects range in size from a 2,000 sq ft facility to an 8,000 sq ft warehouse within a 120,000 sq ft building.

She has published several articles in industry magazines. These include: