Merry Everything and A Very Happy New Year!

It’s that time when we pause to review the past year. We look at what we did well and what needs improvement. We recap what services were introduced and which new skills were acquired, and we discuss what equipment and services we would like to add and which skills we want to improve on in the following year. We celebrate milestones we have reached and anticipate those in the future. And most importantly, we express our gratitude to those who have helped us to get to where we are!

Speaking of milestones, Copycats is celebrating an important one in 2024 – it marks our 40^th year in business. Forty years is quite a long time and there are many people along the way who have been a part of this accomplishment.

It takes a terrific crew to be able to continuously turn out top quality work quickly, and efficiently. Our staff have an average of 15 years with Copycats, and the employee with the longest tenure has been with us for 33 years.

Our staff is not just good technically, they are problem solvers. They are always looking for the best solution for each of our clients’ unique requirements. And if you look at all of the 5 Star reviews that we have received, it is clear that they are hitting the mark!!

In addition to our staff, our service technicians and suppliers help us out on a regular basis. The techs keep our machines running smoothly. We put a lot of wear and tear on our equipment and it needs to perform consistently and without flaw. Our techs often step in on short notice and repair the machines when there are issues.

Our vendors keep us stocked with the necessary supplies and they have come through even when supply chains are in disarray. We depend on their support because we often need unusual materials to fulfill the unique requirements of many projects.

Finally, we have our clients. We would not be here without them. Some have been with us since we opened our doors. Some moved from one organization to another and took us with them. Others were referred to us by existing clients.  There are also many who found us through a web search and decided to take a chance on us after reading what other clients have said about us.

However our clients have come to us, our goal is to establish a partnership and put our 40 years of expertise to work for them.  And we take great pride when we have the opportunity to see the work we have produced on display at an institution, in the window of a bookstore or in a mailing we have received.

We sincerely thank all of our clients for trusting us. This is not something we take for granted and our goal is always 100% client satisfaction.

So, as the year winds down, we will close early on Friday, December 22^nd so that our hard-working staff can celebrate as a company. We will eat, drink, have our annual white elephant gift exchange and we’ll enjoy each other’s company. And on Tuesday, December 26^th at 8am we will be back at work.

Another year-end tradition we have  is to make a charitable donation in honor of our clients. Once again, we have donated to one of our favorite charities, www.donorschoose.com. And as we have done in the past, we chose to fund classrooms in high poverty neighborhoods in our city. Our goal is to provide New York City schoolchildren, who otherwise might not have them, with basic supplies and snacks as well as enrichment in extra-curricular areas.

As in years past, we will also be building a home in Sri Lanka for a family who would otherwise be living in an uninhabitable shanty.  In 2017, at the funeral of the father of a good friend, I learned that over the years he had built 15 such houses. Intrigued by this initiative, I asked for some information which I shared with our team. We loved how each donation directly impacts a family in need and we decided to participate in this endeavor.

This will be our fifth house. Of the houses we have built, perhaps most memorable was the last one to be erected. It was dedicated to the memory of Shawn’ee Redddick.  Shawn’ee was with Copycats for 22 years and unfortunately lost her long battle against cancer in June of 2020. She is greatly missed and it makes us happy to memorialize her in this way.

Unfortunately, the house building program had a several years pause due to supply and labor shortages caused by the pandemic. We were happy to hear that it is running again this year and we look forward to seeing the photos of the next completed house and its new owners later this year.

If you would like to learn about any of these charitable initiatives, drop us a line at client@copycats.com.

 In closing, no matter what you celebrate, everyone at Copycats wishes you a very happy holiday season!