The Inside Self-Storage Store, an e-commerce website providing on-demand insight and education products for self-storage professionals, has been selected as a 2013 finalist in min's Best of the Web Awards in the Virtual Store category. The annual awards recognize outstanding websites and digital initiatives among consumer and business-to-business publications.

The Virtual Store category considers a site's effective sales of subscriptions, events and other offerings, including magazine-branded merchandise. Launched last March, the ISS Store was conceived as a central hub allowing self-storage owners, operators, developers and investors to obtain cutting-edge information and resources. Its products include digital versions of Inside Self-Storage (ISS) magazine, video and audio recordings of education sessions from the Inside Self-Storage World Expo, digital Guidebooks, on-demand webinars, and a la carte manager-training sessions.

To be nominated for such a prestigious award is a true testament that we are reaching self-storage professionals and helping them improve their businesses through a previously untapped medium, said Troy Bix, vice president of ISS. The ability for operators to have so much educational material and industry resources at their fingertips is unprecedented. We are very proud of this achievement.

The ISS Store is one of three branded assets from parent company VIRGO to be named a finalist in this years min awards. SupplySide, a publication that covers the dietary supplement, food, beverage, personal care and cosmetic marketplace, is a finalist for its SupplySide Store in the Premium Content category, and its SupplySide R&D Insights Global Experience R&D documentary film is a finalist in the category Video: Magazine-Branded Show.

"We are very pleased to receive this recognition for the SupplySide R&D Insights documentary film, our premium content strategy with the SupplySide Store and our virtual store Inside Self-Storage Store," said John Siefert, VIRGO CEO. "All of these products are great examples of what VIRGO is all about: Creating content that aligns with the context of how our audience is looking to take in information that helps them do their jobs, our unique user experience and its alignment with a trusted brand and the ability to market this data in a non-intrusive way."

The winners and honorable mentions will be honored at an awards breakfast at the Grand Hyatt in New York City on April 15.

Min is a media brand that has covered the consumer and business-to-business magazine market through print, online and in-person events for more than 60 years.

The ISS Store is owned and operated by ISS, a dynamic services provider that has served the self-storage industry for more than 20 years. The brand includes ISS magazine, the ISS Expo, the Self-Storage Training Institute and Self-Storage Talk, the industrys largest online community.

Stor-Age, a self-storage operator with more than 20 facilities in South Africa, collected 100 square meters of donated items through its 2012 Create Happiness Drive, a collaborative event with Round Table Southern Africa, a non-political, non-denominational association that organizes fundraisers and community activities. The 2012 drive received twice as many donated goods as that of the previous year.

The annual campaign encourages people to donate personal and household items, including clothes, toys, books and linens, at their nearest Stor-Age location. Round Table then sources appropriate charities and distributes the goods.

Among the beneficiaries this year is Sister Betty Glover, an 83-year-old ordained minister who runs a soup kitchen and chapel from her home in Noordgesig, Soweto. This is the third year Stor-Age and Round Table have worked with Glover, delivering food for her kitchen, furniture for the chapel, and clothing and educational toys for the children who attend her Sunday school.

We are incredibly proud of the overwhelming support that the public has given this campaign. We are thrilled to be able to help people like Sister Betty Glover who are making such important contributions to their communities. said Chris Oosthuizen, national marketing manager for Stor-Age. The drive has gone from strength to strength, and we thank all those who have made donations.

Stor-Age operates more than 20 self-storage facilities throughout South Africa, with a corporate office in Cape Town.

Eastlake Self Storage in Chula Vista, Calif., is partnering with Recycle San Diego to offer its customers free electronic-waste (e-waste) recycling. The facility will accept drop-offs every day from 9 a.m. to 4:30 p.m.

This new partnership between our two organizations offers a logical and practical solution to the problem of limited local access to electronics-recycling facilities, said Jeff Harding, founder and president of Recycle San Diego. Consumers can now drop off their e-waste seven days a week at the Eastlake Self Storage in a safe and secure location, and Recycle San Diego will manage the collection and safe processing of the materials.

His organizations goal is to expand the scale and scope of this effort and ultimately create easily accessible drop-off centers throughout San Diego County, providing environmentally conscience consumers easier accessibility to collection facilities in their own neighborhoods, Harding added.

It is illegal in California to dump electronic waste such as computers, televisions, mobile phones and similar products in the garbage. California currently has the most comprehensive landfill ban in the nation, curbing the illegal disposal and export of the largest category of toxic electronics, which includes cathode ray tube TVs and computer monitors, according to a press release. Recycle companies find ways to reuse, repurpose and recycle e-waste rather than have the products end up in landfills.

Founded in 2006, Recycle San Diego recycles more than 100 different items. The company works with small business, corporations, nonprofits and other organizations to set up e-waste drop-offs. 

Eastlake Self Storage is a locally owned and operated source for personal and commercial storage solutions. In addition to self-storage, the facility offers U-Haul truck-rental services and boat/RV storage.

The BSC Group LLC, a commercial real estate financing advisor and provider of debt and equity capital solutions for self-storage owners, reported a record year in 2012 and is experiencing its best first quarter ever in 2013, according to a press release. Last year the firm successfully executed 36 transactions on 73 properties totaling $176 million. The deals used a wide range of loan types including Small Business Administration (SBA), insurance/portfolio, commercial mortgage-backed securities (CMBS), regional bank, local bank, hard money/bridge, equity and credit union.

The BSC Group also reports having an extremely productive first quarter in the new year, with more $45 million closed and approximately $79 million under application and expected to fund.

We are obviously very pleased with our firms performance, and we are particularly grateful to our loyal customers who appreciate the value we bring and trust us to guide them through what can be a very complicated process, said Shawn Hill, principal. We have a relationship focus, and that is paying off.

The company's record volumes also speak to the recovery of the capital markets and the return of liquidity, said Devin Huber, also a principal. We are more than optimistic about our firms prospects in 2013, as liquidity is continuing to hold strong. With rates hovering around historic lows, now is a compelling time for borrowers to lock in to long-term, fixed-rate debt.

BSC provides financial and loan advisory, mortgage brokerage, and loan workout solutions to commercial real estate property owners and investors, with a special emphasis on the self-storage market. Through its capital source network, the company provides access to debt and equity financing for commercial real estate investments nationwide.

SpareFoot, an online marketplace that streamlines the rental process for self-storage customers, won $15,000 for Kure It Cancer Research after claiming the gold medal in the third bi-annual Austin Startup Games in Austin, Texas. Competitors from 15 Austin-area startup companies competed in events like beer pong, foosball and trivia.

SpareFoots winning performance comes on the heels of a second-place finish in June 2012 and a third-place finish in January 2012 at previous Startup Games events. Those performances resulted in $5,500 in donations for Kure It.

The $15,000 donation is Kure Its largest this year and will help the organization further its mission to raise awareness and research dollars for underfunded cancers. Since 2007, Kure It has raised more than $1 million for research.

"Congratulations to SpareFoot for making it happen. Kure It certainly appreciates their continuing support, said Barry Hoeven, a self-storage industry veteran who founded Kure It. $15,000 is worth more than gold to make a difference in finding a cure for under-researched cancers. And were proud to be associated with an event that brings some of Austins most talented young people together to make an impact on the world.

With its latest donation, SpareFoot is now a Gold Level sponsor on the Kure It partner roster. The company has won a total of $20,500 in Startup Games donations.

The Startup Games is an awesome event that really represents the Austin tech scene, combining startups, partying and doing good, said Chuck Gordon, SpareFoot CEO. Kure It and their mission mean a lot to us, so I was thrilled to share the news of our gold medal win with Barry and learn what an impact were making with our donations.

Founded in 2008, SpareFoot.com helps consumers find and reserve self-storage units, with comparison shopping tools that show real-time availability and exclusive deals. The company also provides Web-marketing solutions for storage facility owners and operators including AdNetwork, SiteBuilder and GeoPages.

The four U.S.-based self-storage real estate investment trusts (REITs)CubeSmart, Extra Space Storage Inc., Public Storage Inc. and Sovran Self Storage Inc.have released financial statements for the quarter that ended Dec. 31, 2012. In general, all four entities showed gains in key areas and continue to display aggressive acquisition strategies. They also were encouraged by strong annual totals they believe will continue through 2013.

"Our keen focus on operational execution continues to drive accelerating occupancy and revenue performance," said Chris Marr, president of CubeSmart. "We also had a very productive 2012 from an external growth perspective, as we exceeded our targets for acquisitions, dispositions, and third-party management contracts in a disciplined manner that meaningfully enhanced our portfolio."

Our operating fundamentals were strong this year thanks to continued technological innovation, stable demand, and virtually no new supply. The same-store numbers for the quarter were amongst the best in our companys history, said Spencer F. Kirk, Extra Space CEO. For 2013, market conditions remain favorable and our outlook reflects our confidence in our proven operating platform and our ability to continue to maximize every opportunity to increase stockholder value.

CubeSmart

CubeSmart reported a funds from operations (FFO) per share of $0.21 and a 23.5 percent year-over-year increase. Same-store net operating income (NOI) at its 313 facilities grew 7.4 percent year over year. The company attributed this to a 5.2 percent growth in overall revenue and a 1.2 percent increase in property operating expenses.

The operation gained 550 basis points in physical occupancy compared with the same quarter the previous year. The same-store physical occupancy was 84.6 percent as of Dec. 31.

The company closed on five self-storage acquisitions totaling $25.6 million during the quarter, bringing its 2012 acquisition volume to $442.7 million.

CubeSmart also closed on dispositions totaling $24.3 million, including eight assets in Ohio, two in Florida and one asset in Tennessee. Full-year disposition volume totaled $60 million.

On Dec. 10, the company declared a dividend of 11 cents per common share. The dividend was paid on Jan. 15 to common shareholders of record on Jan. 2.

Extra Space Storage Inc.

Same-store revenue increased 6.5 percent and NOI rose 8.5 percent compared to the same period in 2011. NOI increased 10.2 percent for the year. FFO was 43 cents per diluted share, resulting in 23 percent growth compared to the fourth quarter the previous year. FFO grew 33 percent for the year.

Same-store occupancy grew by 170 basis points to 88.6 percent, compared to 86.9 percent at the same time last year.

The company purchased 32 properties during the quarter for approximately $215.1 million. Of those properties, 21 came from the acquisition of a joint-venture partners interest in an existing deal. The joint venture owned 21 properties in 11 states. The other 11 assets were in Arizona, Florida, Maryland, Massachusetts and New Jersey.

Extra Space paid a quarterly dividend of 25 cents per common share. The dividend was paid on Dec. 31 to common shareholders of record on Dec. 10.

Public Storage Inc.

Revenue for same-store facilities increased 4.9 percent, or $18.9 million, in the quarter, as compared to the same period in 2011, primarily because of higher realized annual rent per occupied square foot. Cost of operations for the same-store facilities declined by 5.9 percent, or $6.2 million, in the quarter as compared to the same period in 2011.

FFO was $1.86 per diluted common share, compared to $1.50 for the same period the previous year. NOI for same-store facilities increased 8.9 percent, or $25 million, in the quarter compared to the same period in 2011.

During the quarter, the company acquired 10 self-storage properties (761,000 net rentable square feet and 220,000 in conversion space), in Arizona (1), California (2), Florida (3), Georgia (2), New York (1) and Texas (1), for approximately $82 million.

The company reported a regular common quarterly dividend of $1.25 per common share. It also declared dividends with respect to various series of preferred shares. All the dividends are payable on March 28 to shareholders of record as of March 13.

Sovran Self Storage Inc. (Uncle Bob's Self Storage)

Total revenue increased 13.9 percent over the previous year's fourth quarter, while property operating costs increased 8.4 percent, resulting in an NOI increase of 16.8 percent.

FFO for the quarter was 77 cents per fully diluted common share, compared to 73 cents for the same period the previous year.

Net income available to common shareholders for the fourth quarter was $13.5 million, or 44 cents per fully dilated share. For the same period in 2011, net income available to common shareholders was $10.3 million, or 37 cents per fully diluted common share.

Same-store revenue increased 8.2 percent year over year due to an increase in average occupancy of 590 basis points and strong growth in insurance commissions. Average overall occupancy was 86.2 percent, with units renting for an average of $10.73 per square foot.

Sovran acquired 14 properties during the quarter, all in existing markets. Six of the facilities are in Illinois, four in Florida, three in Texas and one in Arizona. The properties cost a combined $83 million and comprise approximately 1 million square feet of net rentable space. For the year, the company acquired 28 facilities for $189 million.

The company paid dividends of 45 cents per common share.

The following is part of an exciting 2013 content series entitled "What Would You Do?" ISS asked managers and owners how they would react in difficult situations that can arise at any facility. We then asked experts to advise on their recommended course of action. To see all articles and slideshows in the series, enter code WWYD13 in the search box at insideselfstorage.com. The complete sequence will roll out over several weeks and be available in full by March 10, 2013.

When you operate a self-storage business, crime is always a possible threat. It might be a break-in, vandalism, tenants engaging in illegal activity or employee theft. Even facilities in good areas with top-notch security systems can fall victim. We read about it in the papers all the time.

The important thing is to do your best to prevent crime from occurring, and if it does happen, to respond in a timely and appropriate fashion. Do you know what to do in the face of theft and criminal behavior? Is what you would do the same as what you should do?

Inside Self-Storage recently reached out to self-storage operators to learn how they would proceed during specific but common situations that could occur at any facility. They were asked, What would you do if ...

• You suspected illegal activity was occurring in one of your units?
• You discovered an employee or co-worker stealing?
• You came to work one morning and found one or several units broken into?

Answers were provided by members of Self-Storage Talk, the industrys largest online community. We then asked facility-management and insurance experts to tell us what operators should do in each scenario. Our management experts are Linnea Appleby, president of Lime Tree Management in Sarasota, Fla.; Anne Ballard, president of training, marketing and developmental services for Universal Storage Group in Smyrna, Ga.; and Kevin Bledsoe, district manager for Storage Asset Management in York, Pa. Our insurance experts are Kay Schaefer, senior underwriter for Deans & Homer in Phoenix; and Don Sedlacek, vice president of claims for MiniCo Insurance Agency LLC in Phoenix.

What would you do if you suspected illegal activity was occurring in one of your units?

While the answer to this may seem obviouscall the policesome operators may be tempted to don their sleuthing hat and investigate. Our experts agree: Dont do it. Illegal actions are handled by the authorities, usually within minutes of my phone call. Suspicion of such activity will have my undivided attention, says Ralph Driscoll (FHARumRunner), an SST senior member and manager of West End Self Storage in Richmond, Va.

Jerry Hughes (SMSSId), owner of Save Most Self Storage in Caldwell, Idaho, and a senior member of SST, suggests requesting that law enforcement conduct a police-dog training exercise to ferret out any possible illegal things in units or even scare off potential criminals from renting a unit. This also ensures operators dont jump to any conclusions.

What SHOULD you do?

Appleby: When you suspect illegal activity, the last thing you want is to get drawn into a confrontation. Determine the best way to remove that tenant from your property without issue. Either a large rent raise or an eviction should do the trick. Remember, the lease is month-to-month, and both parties can opt for non-renewal without any explanation to the other. Contacting your local police and requesting some facility drive-throughs can help entice the tenant to move this process along. Your role is not to enforce the law, only the terms of the lease.

Ballard: If we think the customer is involved in illegal activity, we want to have the right outcome for the store and property, so the managers start by calling their area manager to discuss. Weve learned that unless we have proof of something, it can be difficult to make a claim; so again, we usually call our attorney for direction.

Often times the managers have a good relationship with local law enforcement and can have the dogs come out for onsite training and see if they hit on the suspected unit. If so, we can ask the police to proceed with warrants or subpoenas for more information or actions they can take. Sometimes the police give us different instructions to follow as well, such as not letting the customer know it has been discovered, then watching for the customer and calling police. We definitely want law enforcement on our side, and its usually very easy to work with them.

Managers also have their tricks of the trade. If we see fluids or gases or smell something noxious coming from a unit, we contact the customer and proceed to inspect it. Depending on the severity, we may not wait for the customer to arrive, as we have this authority to inspect as stated in our rental agreement. Whatever the situation, we want to assess all the facts and situations, discuss a plan, and agree on the details prior to taking action. This also includes what actions we want the manager to take to document or deal with the customer, or assign someone else to take the action such as the area manager or someone from the home office.

Bledsoe: We would monitor the access hours of the renters, review security recordings during these access times, and try to determine if the activity we witness is something that would require law-enforcement assistance. We would never take matters into our own hands if illegal activity is occurring at a storage property. We would contact authorities and discuss the issues with them.

What would you do if you discovered an employee or co-worker stealing?

Richard and Beverly Haessler (RichardandBeverly), resident managers of Park Inn Storage in Odessa, Texas, and Driscoll indicated they would fire the employee without hesitation. Stealing is like lying to me, both will get you fired in a heartbeat, Driscoll wrote.

Marie Brown (Rebee), office manager for Ackley Circle E-Z Store in Oakdale, Calif., has experience with this issue, having caught on camera a part-time employee stealing cash payments from customers. Brown says a review of video footage revealed several incidents totaling more than $1,000. The employee was shown the video in front of police. She was arrested and confessed to the crime, although she later tried to fight the charges in court when she was denied unemployment.

As the office manager and company accountant, it is my job to protect the owner's money, and we just felt that maybe having her arrested would stop this cycle, Brown says. All the court did was slap her on the hand and make her pay a small fine, not even reimburse us. Incredible.

What SHOULD you do?

Schaefer: This is a delicate and difficult issue. Falsely accusing someone of a crime can create its own set of problems. Respond only to what you actually know rather than what you suspect to be true. If you are a co-worker, you should report your actual observations to your supervisor or employer and let them respond to the situation. If youre a supervisor or employer, you need to investigate the suspected activity.

An employee whos suspected of theft should be confronted with facts and without judgment or condemnation until the truth is known. When all is known, your decision with respect to discipline or termination of the employee should be both lawful and consistent in how any similar occurrence would be treated in the past or in the future with another employee.

Sedlacek: If you believe an employee or co-worker may be stealing, its very important not to jump to conclusions. Falsely accusing a staff member of a crime is not a positive action and could lead to serious trouble down the road. However, its important to protect your self-storage operation from theft, embezzlement and other fraud.

If an employee reports suspicions to you or you witness what you suspect may be evidence of illegal activity, your first course of action should be to document these concerns in accordance with your companys human resources policies. If there is no standardized policy in place, collect documentation to further support your concerns, such as reports from your facility-management software, routine auditing records, receipts and logs. This activity should be performed without comment to avoid raising suspicions among employees, particularly the staff member being investigated. If this research supports your suspicions, then its time to contact the police and your insurance agent.

Its critical to keep in mind that youre not the police and dont have the authority to search an employees personal belongings or hold someone involuntarily for questioning. This may seem obvious, but the line between conversation and false imprisonment can be crossed all too easily. If it is determined a crime may have occurred, work with the police and your insurance agent to pursue any necessary legal action or claims.

What would you do if you came to work one morning and found one or several units broken into?

SST members generally agree that the discovery of a break-in should result in the notification of the affected tenant, the police and then a ranking member of the storage company. Randy Lucore (RandyL) of CR Area Storage in Cedar Rapids, Iowa, says he would also check any video-camera footage and the gate logs. Generally when we find this, it is because of some kind of domestic dispute, Lucore notes. Or the tenant broke into [his] own unit.

SST senior member geraldine1051 once discovered a break-in during her morning rounds. The police were hesitant to come out initially because the tenant had reported a large amount of marijuana stolen from his home the previous day.

Turns out the tenant had left his rental agreement along with the key to his lock on the front seat of his unlocked truck, and he freaked out when we looked at the camera log to see his truck pulling out with his stuff in it, she recalls. Once all this died downand I still don't know how it turned outI evicted the tenant for talking disrespectfully to me. Go figure.

What SHOULD you do?

Appleby: Follow the policies and procedures provided by the company. This should tell you who to contact, in what order, and the specific steps to take. If you dont have this, let the owner or supervisor know and call the police immediately. Take pictures and secure the units or area. Do not touch anything. Once the police are through, contact the tenants and request they come to the site and inspect their unit. Tenants will need to report it to their insurance provider.

Ballard: We complete an unusual-incident report with photos and start calling customers right away to come and check their units. Make sure the thief can't get back onto the property by repairing a fence or anything damaged by the thieves.

Bledsoe: Each property manager would be required to contact his district manager immediately, and he must submit an incident report. The report identifies what happened, who was affected, when it happened and who was notified. We would review video recordings, contact the police, contact all tenants, secure all units, and identify how the thieves may have gained access to the property. We would also review how we can prevent something like this from happening in the future and, if it persists, we may hire a security-guard company for night-time monitoring.

Schaefer: First, call the police and report the discovery. Secure the area to prohibit any public traffic around or into the effected units until the police arrive to investigate. Contact your insurance agent to make an initial report of the incident and make reasonable efforts to contact the tenants of each effected unit, keeping a record of your efforts. In the presence of the police, photograph the scene, any evidence of forced entry, and the interior of the effected units. Damage to your structures caused by forced entry would typically be covered for loss in excess of any applicable deductible.

Additionally, some tenants may believe the facility is responsible for their loss. A well-written self-storage agreement will typically make it clear that you are not responsible for loss or damage to a tenants stored property, but even well-written agreements are sometimes tested.

Sedlacek: Once the scene has been released by the police, document all damages by taking photographs and making relevant notes. Tenants should not be allowed on the premises until the scene is secured for two important reasons: ensuring their safety and preserving the scene for investigative purposes. One additional reminder: Tenants wishing to file a claim against their tenant-insurance policy or homeowner policy will need to file their own police report, which is each tenants responsibility. Encourage them to contact the police to file a report for any damaged or stolen items.

To read more great content in the ISS "What Would You Do?" business-challenges series, type code WWYD13 in the search box at insideselfstorage.com.

The Inside Self-Storage World Expo will take place in Las Vegas, April 2-5, and industry professionals will be spoiled for choice when it comes to educational and networking opportunities. A new slideshow, "10 Things Your Self-Storage Business Is Begging You to Learn at the 2013 ISS Expo," will help them hone in on strategic offerings to maximize their event experience and capture knowledge they can immediately use to improve their self-storage operation.

The slideshow, viewable and downloadable from the Resource Center at insideselfstorage.com, highlights 10 top expo happenings including seminars, roundtable discussions, workshops and exhibits. All of the highlighted items are included as part of the standard Education Package, with the exception of the three-hour Marketing Workshop, which can be purchased as part of the Premium Package or as a standalone option.

Speakers featured in the slideshow include Anne Ballard (aka "The Hat Lady") of Universal Storage Group, RK Kliebenstein of Metro Storage LLC, Christina Alvino of Guardian Storage Solutions, Matthew Van Horn of Cutting Edge Self Storage Management, Susan Haviland of Haviland Storage Services and others.

The ISS Expo will take place at the Paris Hotel & Casino. It includes 40-plus seminars as well as four workshops, five networking events, and more than 100 product and service exhibits. Registration discounts are available online and via phone until March 29. Detailed information can be found at www.insideselfstorageworldexpo.com.