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“ I can ’ t say enough great things about how Matt at Ayres and the DDA helped my business survive ,” he said . “ I can ’ t tell you how much of a relief it was to have someone help me with what I thought was an insurmountable burden … How do you write a grant ? Where do you submit the grant ? What ’ s available out there ? Ayres came through , and that was that personal touch that you just don ’ t find anywhere else .”
Ashby said he finds that feedback “ incredibly gratifying .”
“ We ’ re all in this together , and our job with Windsor is really about community service , and it just is so fulfilling to be able to know that you did your job and were able to help out a small , local business to stay afloat during these unprecedented times ,” Ashby said .
Scan or visit https :// bit . ly / AyresAdapts to view a video offering a glimpse into a few of the creative , proactive measures the Ayres team took to address the new realities of the COVID-19 pandemic .
Pivoting when usual protocols aren ’ t possible
The COVID-19 pandemic also significantly impacted the Wisconsin Regional Orthoimagery Consortium or “ WROC ,” a statewide mapping program comprised of a collaboration of local , county , state , and private organizations . After Wisconsin ’ s Safer at Home order was issued in March 2020 , many WROC team members – and clients – suddenly found themselves in unusual working conditions and , as such , the team needed to modify communications to the new work environment and people ’ s preferred method of contact . Some clients were less available by phone and more accessible via email . With others , the best way to communicate was by calling or sending text messages to clients ’ personal cell phones – all from home .
Meanwhile , Ayres ’ technical team moved their specialized workstations from the office to home . Data processing continued with minimal slowdowns . Terabytes of data flowed from Ayres ’ servers to home offices , and then back again once the production was complete .
At a time when other projects across the state were stalling or shutting down , the team persevered . The Ayres project managers found ways to work with their clients and keep the projects going , on track , and on schedule for delivery – with very limited impacts .
“ It took a partnership with clients for sure ,” recalled program manager Zachary Nienow of Ayres . “ We rely on a lot of communication back and forth when checking for flight ground conditions in their location for
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