Brandtwood Services is an affiliate of VP Racing which is a privately owned company by Alan B Cerwick. Alan’s great-grandfather, E.C. Brandt, bought property on Lake O’Brien, Big Pine, and Little Pine in the 1920s. In 1924 he built a seasonal home on Lake O’Brien and named it the Brandtwood Lodge. E.C. was an avid hunter and fisherman and Alan was able to spend a number of his young years spending time with him at Brandtwood. After E.C. passed, Alan continued to visit Brandtwood and over the years he was able to aggregate ownership of Brandtwood and several of the adjacent lots his great-grandfather had owned years earlier.

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In 2023, the region had a late winter and Alan couldn’t seem to get on the schedule for his prior dock/lift service. He was only able to get his docks and lifts in by doing it himself (with the help of some strong college boys). Upon efforts to hire a new dock services company, he learned that nearly all service companies were declining new customers and none were taking new clients on the small lakes. Furthermore, he identified that there is a trend for existing service providers to drop customers on the small lakes. In addition to the challenges with servicing the lake needs, Alan had already been having challenges finding reliable people to care for the lawn, trim trees, clean the cabin, manage storm damage, and generally all the services needed to maintain a residence in a remote location.

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As Alan reviewed the situation, he realized that the frustration was likely to continue and others were also likely experiencing the same frustrations.  Accordingly, he decided to start a services company, Brandtwood Services, that was capable of maintaining a steady workforce with benefits such as health insurance and 401K programs that are most likely not available in mom-and-pop operations.