Southern California operator A-1 Self Storage recently pledged financial support to Christian Unified Schools of San Diego, a private, evangelical school district consisting of an elementary school, a junior high school and high school.

Quality education is something to celebrate and support whenever possible, said Brian Caster, president and CEO of Caster Cos., the parent company of A-1 Self Storage. A-1 Self Storage is proud to give to CUSSD and make a positive impact on the students.

A-1 Self Storage has 17 locations in the San Diego County area and more than 40 locations statewide. It is the self-storage division of the Caster Cos., a third-generation, family-owned company headquartered in Southern California since 1959. Caster Cos. develops and manages A-1 Self Storage, A-1 Car Storage and other commercial properties in California. Its portfolio includes more than 4 million square feet of real estate.

The Storage Village facility in Millersville, Md., has established a relationship with Partners in Care, a volunteer-driven non-profit that helps senior citizens in Anne Arundel County, Maryland, maintain their houses and receive health care.

Now through April 30, Storage Village Millersville will sell water bottles to support Partners in Care. All money collected from the water bottles will fund the organizations services including driving seniors to medical appointments and making handyman repairs.

This organization was nominated by Frank Mundell, the manager of Storage Village Millersville, and was chosen based on the critical service it provides for the community. The facility has a history of participating in charitable efforts.

Storage Village has five locations, including four in Maryland and one in Virginia.

With greater numbers of consumers shopping online and industry competition heating up in most markets, self-storage operators are expanding the way they market their businesses, embracing Web-based methods and exploring creative approaches to traditional techniques.

On March 15, self-storage expert Tom Litton will teach a Power Marketing Mini Clinic for Self-Operators as part of the Inside Self-Storage World Expo in Las Vegas, where he will talk about marketing trends and ways to capitalize on Internet exposure.

Littons two-hour seminar aims to provide fresh ideas for marketing self-storage facilities. Hell provide 50 tried-and-true marketing tips plus insight on phone sales, contact-management tools, search-engine optimization, social media and more.

Litton, who owns Litton Property Management Inc., began his career in the self-storage industry during its infancy and has managed more than 150 self-storage facilities in 11 states. He currently fee manages and consults throughout Australia, Canada, England, France and the United States.

The ISS Expo will take place March 14-16 at the Paris Hotel & Resort. The self-storage conference and tradeshow feature 36 seminars, four workshops, two days of product and service exhibits, and peer-to-peer networking events. Show details are available at www.insideselfstorageworldexpo.com.

The LifeStorage self-storage facility of Mokena, Ill., is extending its food-drive efforts to support the Frankfort Township Food Pantry. The drive started last winter to gather Thanksgiving and Christmas food and supplies for families. Because of the campaign's success, LifeStorage will continue the drive throughout 2012. To date the facility has collected 12 bags of food and personal supplies such as baby products, toiletries, toys and books.

To bolster community interest, the self-storage facility is raffling off a gift basket on March 31. Each food or cash donation of $2 or more earns a person one ticket.

We want to stress to those currently in need that we are here for them and are looking for more ways that we can help, and have further plans to help provide beyond our current food drive," said Kelly Butt, one of the facility managers.

"We're doing this to try to encourage donations at this time more than ever because while people feel very giving during the holidays, people are still in need of food and other necessary supplies all year round, added facility manager Megan Tolbert.

LifeStorage was founded in 2002 by owners Jean Jodoin and Christopher Barry. The currently has 17 locations in Chicago and its suburbs, with two more opening later this year.

Real estate investment trust Sovran Self Storage Inc. recently realigned its executive-management positions and made several internal promotions. The changes are effective March 1.

• David Rogers has been promoted to CEO. Rogers has been with the company since 1985 and served as chief financial officer beginning in 1995.
• Robert Attea, former CEO, will assume the role of executive director of the board. He will continue to oversee the general direction of the company.
• Kenneth Myszka will stay in his role as president and chief operating officer.
• Andrew Gregoire will take over as chief financial officer.
• Paul Powell will be promoted to executive vice president of real estate investment.
• Edward Killeen will be promoted to executive vice president of real estate management.

Sovran is a self-administered and self-managed equity REIT in the business of acquiring and managing self-storage facilities. The company operates 445 properties in 25 states under the name Uncle Bob's Self Storage.

The son of a self-storage owner in Marion, N.C., must pay $95,000 in restitution to some of the facilitys tenants after pleading guilty to several 2010 theft charges. Benjamin David Raymer, 31, who had been put in charge of running Fort Knox Climate Control Storage, entered guilty pleas in McDowell County Superior Court to four counts each of felony breaking and entering and felony larceny, and two counts of felony obtaining property by false pretense.

On Dec. 3, 2010, a customer of the facility reported that $15,000 worth of goods was stolen from her rented storage unit. Three days later, another customer reported a similarly valued theft. After receiving two more break-in calls from Fort Knox tenants on Dec. 9, police went to the facility to discover yet a fifth unit had been compromised, with $100,000 in furniture stolen.

Upon investigating, detectives found some of the stolen property in the possession of Raymers acquaintances, and Raymer, with the help of accomplice Jerry Davis, 40, had broken into the units and sold it during a weeklong sale at the storage site. Buyers were told the items were from units on which rent had not been paid.

In addition to restitution, Raymer received three consecutive six- to eight-month suspended sentences and was placed him supervised probation for five years. He must spend nine months on intensive supervised probation, perform 72 hours of community service and pay court costs.

Strategic Storage Trust Inc., a publicly registered, non-traded real estate investment trust, recently recovered unpaid expenses related to a cell-phone tower on one of its properties. 

The company leases space to Sprint Nextel Corp., the third-largest telecom provider in North America, for the occupancy and use of rooftop telecom equipment at its Fort Lee, N.J., property.  The collection of expenses due from Sprint dates back to 2001, and represents a significant recovery for the company.

Strategic Storage Trust engaged Vertical Consultants in 2011 to review and provide counsel regarding its cell-tower leases associated with its properties. Vertical Consultants helps companies maximize the value of its clients telecom-lease assets. Upon review of the existing lease and Sprints related use of the Fort Lee site, it was discovered Sprint had failed to pay certain expenses to Strategic Storage Trust. Vertical Consultants reconciliation efforts resulted  in an immediate recovery of past-due amounts, and the establishment of an accurate and continued collections of expenses associated with this lease moving forward.  Not only did we recover a significant amount of expense dollars due the company but we are now confident in our ability to properly manage the projected revenue of this lease and others going forward, said Paula Mathews, executive vice president of Strategic Storage Trust Inc.

Our goal is to make sure property owners are correctly paid under their lease agreement with their telecom-company tenants, said Hugh Odom, president of Vertical Consultants. We know from our experience in the industry that a surprisingly large number of cell-tower and rooftop lease landlords are not getting paid correctly due to the lack of information and misinformation provided to them by their tenants.

Founded in 2010 by Odom, Vertical Consultants is comprised of a group of wireless industry veterans with more than 40 years of combined experience. The company specializes in all aspects of the wireless-telecom industry, including telecom-site acquisition and development, lease negotiation, and the legal issues surrounding such transactions.

Since the launch of Strategic Storage Trust in early 2008, the portfolio of wholly-owned properties operating under the SmartStop brand name has expanded to include 91 properties in 17 states and Canada.

When it comes to developing a self-storage business, there's much more than the physical plant to consider. Where and how you build your facility is critical, of course. It's important to research the market, consumer demand and the competition. You've got to think about unit mix and site design, as well as important add-ons such as solar panels and boat/RV space. Convenience, curb appeal, security components and other tangible aspects all affect the decision of the customer to rent with you.

But once the site is built, you enter the vital lease-up phase, where you grow your customer base and business reputation. This stage is equally important to the success of the facility, and yet the skills and tasks involved are a completely different ball of wax. On this operational side of the equation, the focus is on marketing and managerial strength.

Learn how to build your business from the ground up and the inside out during the Inside Self-Storage World Expo in Las Vegas, March 14-16. The industry's most comprehensive conference and tradeshow will teach you everything you need to know about constructing and developing a facility to building its clientele and public image. Visit www.insideselfstorageworldexpo.com to view a detailed education agenda, read about presenters, access a list of exhibitors, register for the show and more.

Part I: Building Toward Success: Development and Construction
By Tony Jones

Although the lagging economy has continued to play a role in the slow rate of new builds in the self-storage industry, theres never a bad time for operators and investors to think about important construction and development issues relative to their business, whether planning projects for the future or re-investing in current facilities.

Budgets are tight these days, and financial mistakes made during planning can make or break the success of a project. Several of this years educational sessions are designed to minimize costly errors while optimizing prudent planning procedures. Five sessions on Wednesday, March 14, will cover everything from the importance of feasibility studies to the viability of solar energy. Any remaining questions or topics of interest likely can be addressed Wednesday evening, 6-7 p.m., when several Roundtable Discussions will focus on aspects of self-storage construction and development.

In a tough business climate, no project should move forward without proper planning. Operators and investors with any projects in the works should strongly consider attending the seminar Self-Storage Feasibility Due Diligence: Its a Requirement, Not an Option." Jim Chiswell, president of Chiswell & Associates LLC, will address the critical aspects of preparing a feasibility study or due diligence report, examining issues such as site selection, demographics, competitive analysis and pro forma projections.

One of the challenges in todays market is space. Land parcels that may make attractive self-storage locations but are too small for an expansive facility may still make an ideal setting for multi-story construction. Multi-story facilities have become popular as developers have sought high-quality urban locations or looked for ways to minimize land investment. In Going Vertical in Self-Storage: Multi-Story Construction, Caesar Wright, president of Mako Steel Inc., will address the best ways to lay out a multi-story self-storage project while keeping an eye on construction costs.

Similarly, investing in alternative energy sources is another strategy to increase the efficiency of a facilitys footprint while adding to the bottom line over the long term. Bob Hayworth, owner and CEO of Baja Construction Co., and Robin Heuer, a partner with Elevated Solar, will present Solar Self-Storage 101: Technology, Costs, Financial Incentives and More." They'll discuss the many benefits of solar strategies, including structural configurations designed to maximize investment, best site locations and system output.

A complete rundown of the expos construction and development educational sessions can be found at www.insideselfstorageworldexpo.com.

Part II: Meaningful and Cost-Effective Marketing
By Hayden Harrison

Nowadays, marketing comes in all forms: broadcast, online ads, social media, websites and more. Because there are many different mediums of marketing, it's important to learn how to use them effectively. Self-storage operators can attend seminars on facility marketing during the ISS Expo.

Businesses can be promoted using mass media and/or online tools. Deciding which is better is up to the operator. During the seminar "The Great Debate: Mass Media vs. Web Marketing in Self-Storage," presenters will argue which method is superior while teaching the factors that affect success with broadcast advertising. Attendees will learn to use broadcast to brand and benefit their business, develop mass-media strategies and combine mass media with the Internet, all while being cost-efficient.

The Internet can be used in many ways to advertise a self-storage facility. Pay-per-click (PPC) advertising can attract specific traffic to companies by using services such as Google AdWords. At the ISS Expo, attendees will learn which keywords to use, ways to incorporate PPC with other Web-marketing tools, and how to find optimal cost and conversion.

The use of social media can be merged with existing marketing plans, and attendees will learn what sites to use and how to leverage them to attract customers. With quick-response, matrix barcodes popping up all over, self-storage owners can begin to use this method to market through potential customers' portable devices.

Most companies have websites, but not all are effective. By attending expo seminars, facility operators can learn to design their website for better readability, make their website more findable using search engine optimization (SEO), and how to turn visitors into customers.

SEO is vital for websites, and learning how to use key terms will help storage businesses survive. Once people are drawn to the website, it's important to keep them there with great design and content. Expo attendees will learn just that during the seminar, "An SEO-Survival Guide for Beginners: How to Outwit, Outplay and Outlast Your Competition."

By attending marketing seminars at the ISS Expo, facility operators will learn to promote their businesses, rope in prospects and turn potential renters into customers.

Phoenix-based OpenTech Alliance Inc., developer of the INSOMNIAC line of self-storage kiosks, released a whitepaper this week summarizing self-storage kiosk use in 2011. The data shows how self-storage consumers are using and benefitting from self-service options.

Last year U.S. and Canadian consumers used INSOMNIAC kiosks to rent 23,331 self-storage units, make 193,574 payments, and purchase 11,502 locks. These transactions represent $21.3 million in self-service transactions.

OpenTechs kiosks collected more than $70 million in rental fees in 2011 and rented an average of 4.3 units per facility per month, a 26.4 percent increase over the 2010 average. The company attributes the increase to its Live! Megan call-center service, which assists self-storage customers in completing transactions. The service is offered as part of the company's monthly maintenance and warranty program.

OpenTech's stated goal is to achieve six new rentals per kiosk per month, according to president and CEO Robert A. Chiti. At the Inside Self-Storage World Expo in Las Vegas, March 14-16, the company will be demonstrating new product enhancements that will help it reach and possibly this goal, including a two-way video conferencing service. The company will be exhibiting in booth No. 525.

More than half (51.9 percent) of new self-storage rentals made at OpenTech kiosks in 2011 were made during regular office hours; 63.5 percent occurred on weekdays. The majority of payments (51.4 percent) were collected outside of regular office hours, though the bulk of payments, 72.8 percent, were collected on weekdays as opposed to weekends. In addition, INSOMNIAC kiosks rented 567 units during the 11 major holidays in 2010, collecting $567,311 in rental fees on those days.

The statistics show that while credit cards were still the preferred method of payment, checks and cash still made up almost half of the total payments. Cash weighed in at 29 percent, checks at 15 percent and credit cards at 56 percent.

The complete 2011 Kiosk Usage White Paper is available for download at www.insideselfstorage.com/Whitepapers.aspx.

OpenTech products and services include seven models of INSOMNIAC self-storage kiosks ranging in price from $5,500 to $18,000, the INSOMNIAC Live!  call center, and the INSOMNIAC Self Storage Network for online storage reservations and rentals.