“The job is not done until the paperwork is done.” Joanne Fern, the owner of J&S Operated Equipment Rentals, has come to live by these words over her nearly three decades in the business. Well-known as a strong leader with a passion making her customers happy, she has worked hard to get to where she is today.
Ms. Fern initially became involved in the equipment rental field because her husband, Scott, operated heavy machinery and was working with a firm that needed more owners and operators. She decided to step up to help with what was supposed to be solely a contract opportunity, and ended up finding her niche. In 1993, Ms. Fern and her husband opened J&S Operated Equipment Rentals with just one backhoe and one truck, and the rest was history. Over the years, they were able to amass a fleet of machines that includes four Bobcats, one 950 wheel loader, one excavator, two backhoes, two water trucks, two remote control compactor trucks, and several antique trucks and cars. Disaster almost struck in 2010, when they were hit hard by the economy crash, but they persevered and were able to reinvent themselves into the thriving company that exists today. As the head of the excavating, demolition, and grading equipment company, Ms. Fern’s responsibilities have come to include managing all operations of the company, overseeing the insurance and human resources responsibilities, billing, budgeting, and, of course, paperwork. She also ensures that the company’s philosophies, which are to be fair, honest, and thorough, are at the forefront of every job.
To prepare for her endeavors, Ms. Fern graduated from North Hollywood High School in 1978, and joined prominent professional organizations like the Council of Better Business Bureaus and the Air Resource Board. She also garnered hands-on experience at Reseda Printing. Looking to the future, Ms. Fern hopes to keep busy, continue to provide excellent customer service, stay happy, and put people to work. She is already working toward those goals, and is excited to offer a new service, abatement, to her clients in 2017.
When Ms. Fern has free time, she enjoys supporting charitable organizations like Angels Against Hunger and watching NASCAR. In a demonstration of her commitment to her community, she brought food to the first responders of the 1994 earthquake in California, which decimated much of the San Fernando Valley region. Her husband was one of those first responders.