Toadvine Blog

We are celebrating another completed job here at Toadvine Enterprises. We just finished Southern High School's football stadium bleachers here in Louisville Kentucky.

This project consisted of a 15 row bleacher on the home side of the field that spans 232-1/2' with a seating capacity of 1,903. The visitor's side is a 10 row 165' long bank with a seating capacity of 960. The total seating capacity for Southern High School's new bleachers is around 2,863. These bleachers also feature Dant Clayton's slip resistant deck boards to increase safety when the bleachers are wet. They also feature purple powder coated riser boards to match the school's colors.

If you get a chance to stop by Southern High School be sure to take a look at their new bleachers and let us know what you think! If you would like more information on how we can help you design your next set of bleachers or just have questions for one of our sales representatives, please call 877-211-6925 or visit our website at toadvine.com

Why is bleacher maintenance and inspection important? How would bleacher maintenance help me? These are questions you might ask yourself if you are an athletic director, director of facilities, prinicipal, superintendent or maintenance supervisor. Those questions are what I hope to answer with this blog.

I enjoy breaking things down into smaller, easier to understand sections so I have broken down my 3 main reasons to have annual bleacher maintenance and inspection completed.

1. To satisfy your mandatory annual insurance inspection

Insurance companies expect you to properly maintain the equipment in which they insure for you, or else they might drop you or just raise you premiums. That is where your annual maintenance and inspection by a professional comes in to play. We as the professionals will provide you with the peace of mind knowing that you are in good shape when your insurance agent decides to stop by to do an inspection. We also provide you with a detailed preventative care sheet that will be given to you at the conclusion of each maintenance and inspection. This sheet will tell you the good, the bad and the ugly regarding your bleacher seating. It will let you know how your equipment is holding up and whether or not you are in need of additional work. This is especially nice because it keeps you informed of issues before they become an unwanted surprise.

2. Make sure you are meeting your state's adopted code

The word "code" gets thrown a lot and makes people wonder what code applies to me and how do I know if I am meeting the standards. The truth is there are several codes out there and there is no rhyme or reason to what code your specific state adopts. There are also different codes adopted by local governments as opposed to the state government and some codes have different limitation than others, it can get very confusing very quickly. The best thing for anyone to do is to find out what code has been adopted statewide and make sure you are compliant with it as it acts as a blanket code. For example the state of Tennessee goes by the International Building Code 2009 (IBC09) for their statewide code and Kentucky goes by Internatioanl Building Code 2012 (IBC12), further proving there is no pattern or reason for what version each state chooses. I say all of this to let you know there is a lot of confussion and having a professional inspect and maintain your bleachers is very important.

3. The safety of your students, families, friends and spectators

I shouldn't have to explain too much for reason number 3. It is the last reason I give for keeping up with the maintenance and inspection of your bleachers, but it is by far the most important. As an athletic director, superintendent, principal, director of faclilities or maintenance supervisor the safety of your spectators while attending events should be at the top of your list of priorities. That is why keeping up with the maintenance and inspection of your school's bleacher seating should not be an afterthought.

If you haven't talked to one of our employees about maintenance and inspection of your bleacher seating please contact us today at 502-241-6010. You can visit us online at toadvine.com or email us at info@toadvine.com 

Below is our maintenance flyer that will tell you a little more about the products that we maintain for our customers.

 Maintenance_Flyer

There is a lot that goes into choosing the equipment that is right for your gym. There are many variables such as color, size, price and meeting code specifications. Yes, meeting code specificaitons is very important and is the easiest and most over looked variable. We Know there aren't many people who enjoy looking at code specs or enjoy doing research to find out what the code is in their state, but it is important. 

Not all codes are created equal and just because a manufacturer tells you they meet a certain code doesn't mean that you are in compliance with state or local regulations. Other codes such as ASTM E-84 fail to test the materials in the same manner as NFPA 101 Life Safety Code or International Building Code, which are the two most common codes adopted by states. The NFPA 101 Life Safety Code and International Building Code both pass test put forth by NFPA 286. As stated by our wall pad manufacturer Porter Athletics, even if your local jurisdiction doesn't enforce the strict NFPA 101 or International Building Code you may still be held liable by the state to meet their restrictions.

The solution to all these issues is to make sure your manufacturer meets the strict NFPA 101 Life Safety Code or International Building Code.  To make sure you are covered, contact your manufacturer to see if they can provide a certificate that passes the NFPA 286 test.

Below is a copy of Porter Athletic's wall pad code compliance document that takes an in-depth look at all codes and how each are tested.

 White_Paper-_Indoor_Wall_Pads_Achieving_Code_Compliance

For more information about what we offer please email info@toadvine.com or call 877-211-6925.

Louisville, KY-February 10, 2016- Toadvine Enterprises has joined forces with Dant Clayton Corporation as the exclusive dealer supporting Tennessee. Dant Clayton, located in Louisville, Kentucky, is one of the leading, most innovative outdoor bleacher manufacturers in the United States. Toadvine Enterprises has been selling, installing, and servicing bleachers for elementary and middle schools, high schools and colleges since 1990 and is one of Dant Clayton's oldest and most experienced dealers covering the state of Kentucky. Dant Clayton and Toadvine Enterprises have been working together for over 25 years to provide the very best in spectator seating and are excited to be working together to bring the same great service to the state of Tennessee.

The relationship between Toadvine Enterprises and Dant Clayton didn't start with business, the two owners, Mike Toadvine (Toadvine Enterprises) and Bruce Merrick (Dant Clayton) were Sigma Chi fraternity brothers at their alma mater of Western Kentucky University. Mike became a sales representative for Dant Clayton in 1976, then a short time later opened his own company as an independent dealer. The two companies have formed a great team and Toadvine has become the trusted voice on bleacher seating in Kentucky and is excited for the opportunity of becoming the same trusted resource in Tennessee. "We believe Dant Clayton is the premier seating manufacturer in the industry. Toadvine Enterprises has enjoyed great success in Kentucky with Dant Clayton, and we look forward to continuing that success with Tennessee customers. Our team is committed to providing this same level of excellence for sales, service, and installation in Tennessee," said Mike Toadvine, President of Toadvine Enterprises. A statement to which Chairman of Dant Clayton, Bruce Merrick strongly echoes, "the partnership with Toadvine Enterprises has been a valuable one for both Dant Clayton and customers in Kentucky. The knowledge of the industry this group brings to the table is unparalleled, and we look forward to jointly servicing new clients in this market."

Since opening their doors in 1976, Dant Clayton has focused on providing and improving the overall spectator experience by being an industry leader in innovative bleacher and grandstand design. Similarly, Toadvine Enterprises has focused its entire existence on their customer's satisfaction by providing the best bleacher product and the best service possible. It is only natural the two organizations partner once again to serve the state of Tennessee to bring the best outdoor bleacher seating to the Volunteer state.

There is no job too big or too small for the Dant Clayton/Toadvine team, whether it is a small 4 row bleacher for a recreational park or high school, or a massive steel I-beam grandstand for a college or pro sports stadium. Most recently, Toadvine finished working on the renovation of Commonwealth Stadium at the University of Kentucky. Toadvine added backrests to over 12,000 seats and completed an upgrade to UK's recruiting deck.

The two companies have a combined 60+ years of experience in building, selling, installing and maintaining stadium and bleacher seating. If you have any questions or would like more information on outdoor bleacher seating, please feel free to contact Toadvine Enterprises at 877-211-6925 or email at jordan@toadvine.com.

We are excited to be hitting the ground running in 2016 here at Toadvine Enterprises. We have several employees who have taken on new roles with additional responsibilities and we even have added a few new team members, including myself. So excitement is in the air around our company as we prepare for a successful 2016 to attain our mission of delivering outstanding value to our customers as a total solutions provider of spectator seating and athletic equipment.

In 2016, we are working on further developing our culture at Toadvine Enterprises. As a part of this new initiative, we have started a campaign called "Cheerful Givers." Our "Cheerful Givers" program will be something that we will be focusing on throughout the year to give our employees a chance to extend a helping hand and give back to our community. It is important as a business not to forget your responsibility to help out the community that supports you.

Our first Cheerful Givers event took place during the Christmas season. It consisted of each team member receiving $50 from Toadvine at our company Christmas event in early December. Each employee was simply tasked with helping out someone in need during the Christmas holiday.

At our 2016 kick-off meeting  in January, we had each member of the Toadvine team share their stories of what they did with the $50. As we went around the room, it was rewarding to hear about people's lives that were touched in some small way at least for one day or for one Christmas season. We had several members of the team match the $50 company contribution with money out of their own pockets to purchase presents for children of underprivileged families for Christmas morning. One employee took his daughter to a shelter and let her give the money to a girl of similar age, and he said it turned into a great teaching moment for his daughter.  We had another team member buy a $200 Walmart gift card for a family who had their house destroyed in a tornado just before Christmas. We had an employee pay for the groceries of a family that was behind them without saying a word.  One of our employees even bought a friend who is suffering from a grim cancer diagnosis a book on the Christian's view of cancer in hopes that it would help him come to some closure with his diagnosis and his relationship with God.

 So whether we gave to families in need, made a child's Christmas special, surprised an un-expecting mother in line behind us at the grocery store, or tried to help a friend come to closure with the life that they have left on this earth, the initiative was to "act" and make someone's Christmas holiday just a little bit better. Hopefully, we accomplished our mission.

Look for more "Cheerful Givers" stories in 2016!

Jordan Farley

Over the past few months, we have been able to attend some awesome events in the area! If you are a school or school vendor in the Kentucky-Ohio-Tennessee tri-state area, you need to check out these associations and plan to attend their events in 2016!

Tennessee School Board Annual Convention

The Tennessee School Boards Association was created with the goal of assisting Tennessee school boards in effectively governing school districts.

On their website, they have a detailed list of the ways that they plan to realize this goal in 2016. Some of those ways include seeking 100% membership of all school boards in Tennessee, providing professional development opportunities for all employees, providing each school board member a TSBA calendar of activities and events, reviewing and revising roles and responsibilities for TSBA staff to meet the changing needs of school boards and maintaining e-mail addresses of all board members and superintendents.

Their convention is one of the largest education meetings in Tennessee where public school advocates and board members come together from across the nation to showcase successful student achievement programs and discuss new trends and innovations in education.

There's no doubt that you will benefit from being a part of this organization. If you are ever in need of something for your school, TSBA is able to connect you with the right professionals to handle your concern.

At Toadvine Enterprises, we are happy to provide all of the sports facility needs to Tennessee schools! Please contact us if you have any questions about athletic equipment, seating or scoreboards! Someone from our staff with respond to you within 24 hours!

Ohio School Board Trade Show

Every year Toadvine attends the Ohio School Board Trade Show to network with people and discuss new ways of how we can better serve the school children in our area.

We met some awesome people this year, learned some really cool new industry trends and gave away a free cooler!

The Ohio School Board Trade Show is one of the biggest--if not THE biggest--school trade shows in the U.S. If you are a school or vendor in the area, or even on this side of the country, you should definitely consider attending this event next year!

They are all about coming up with practical solutions to help school district teams improve student learning and achievement. The event aims to bring excellence to the education experience as a whole, including sports, arts and health. 

It is also a great opportunity to network with people in your industry! We met some awesome architects this year who we hope to partner with to do business in the future.

As we said before, please don't hesitate to reach out to us if your school needs a new stadium. Contact us here! And we hope to see you at these events next year!

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We are so excited for the 26th annual Kentucky Plant Management's Conference in Lexington. As the only conference in Kentucky dedicated to educational facilities, Toadvine takes part in this event to stay up to date with state regulations and codes for Kentucky schools and to learn about state of the art technology to bring back for our customers.

For 23 years, the Kentucky Plant Management Association (KPMA) has partnered with the community with the goal of providing Kentucky students with a school environment that will enable them to excel.

Often times, facility managers feel overwhelmed with everything that goes along with not only the maintenance of a school facility, but keeping the school up-to-date with the latest equipment and technology as well.

At this conference, you can come together under one roof with all of the businesses and suppliers that it takes to run a school facility and learn strategies for managing your resources to keep your facility in optimum shape!

You will also hear the latest in federal and state regulations as well as requirements and codes for school facilities so that you will not have to pay the penalty for failing to meet the standards.

Event Details

• Workshops are given on facilities management issues with awesome strategies, tips and training for building management.
• Round table discussions are held where you can participate in addressing the challenges and issues that come with managing a facility
• A trade show displays over 115 products for school maintenance & operations.
• October 20-23, 2015 at the Embassy Suites Hotel 1801 Newtown Pike Lexington, Ky.

If you are a school facilities manager, we urge you to come and be empowered by this event! If you are a business that makes products or services for school facilities, don't miss your opportunity to connect with over 300 school facility attendees!

Visit the Kentucky Plant Management Association to register for the conference or to learn more.

UK has had a great start to the season, winning 3 out of 4 home games so far. The weekend before last, the Cats beat their first ranked opponent since 2010, Missouri (ranked 25th), and this past weekend they beat EKU. A win is a win right?

We have to wonder if the success could be due in part to the renovated stadium that we helped complete in September before the start of the season.

In a recent Business First article, Tom Jurich, the director and president of athletics for the University of Louisville, talks about the importance of having state of the art facilities in order to recruit the best athletes to your school. And both Kentucky and Louisville definitely have some great players this year!

We also believe that fans are a huge part of the success of a team. A new state of the art stadium helps to boost the morale of not only the players, but the fans as well. We are sure that the new $110-million renovation will keep the Commonwealth Stadium full of Cats fans the entire season!

So what exactly did we do to the stadium?

1. Toadvine Enterprises was responsible for adding the blue backrests to all of the lower bowl seats, which makes them a lot more comfortable! Trust us--we've tried them out.
2. We were also responsible for closing in the in-zone around the recruiting platform with box seats for hosting large parties or impressing business clients. We highly encourage you to buy tickets in this section!

The complete renovation includes a complete makeover of the outside of the stadium, giving it a more modern look, as well as a revamped concourse and concessions area that has been widened to give the stadium a more open feel.

Check out our pictures below and be sure to come out and support the Cats and see the new and improved Commonwealth Stadium for yourself! The next home game is November 28, against Auburn.

In a recent Business First article, Tom Jurich, the director and president of athletics for the University of Louisville, talks about the importance of having state of the art facilities in order to recruit the best athletes to your school.

A couple of weeks ago he announced his plan to expand the Cardinal stadium by 10,000 seats. The new design will mimic NFL stadiums, namely the Seattle Seahawks' CenturyLink Field and the Dallas Cowboys' AT&T Stadium. Locker rooms, training rooms and meeting rooms will be revamped as well in this $55 million renovation.

A member of the University of Louisville Board of Trustees, Jonathan Blue, expressed his support for the project by saying, "Today, sports is an arms race, especially in recruiting, and we must have top-notch facilities in order to bring top-notch athletes to this university."

Jurich is also thinking about the fans. He is putting together a committee to find out what fans are wanting to see in the new stadium, and a new team entrance is being built so that fans can cheer on their team as they emerge from the locker room at the start of the game and at halftime.

Whether you are the athletic director for a small high school or president of athletics for a D1 university, your players depend on you to keep their stadiums and equipment in optimum shape. It truly does affect performance and team morale. Similarly, the fans are affected by the way you maintain the equipment, seating areas, scoreboards, etc.

At Toadvine, we provide the best of the best in athletic equipment and would love to help you step up and prepare your stadium for the team you represent. Contact us here and receive a 24 hour guaranteed response or visit our website to check out some work we have done.

Toadvine Enterprises and Vine & Branch introduce a maintenance and safety inspection program for all of our customers' indoor and outdoor seating and equipment. Installing bleacher or stadium seating is only the start of upgrading your field, court, or venue. It provides a facelift for your space as well as an upgrade in safety.

We take pride in designing functional, safe, and aesthetically pleasing seating, but maintaining those high standards is a big piece to the puzzle. Bleachers should be maintained annually to ensure they remain safe for the wear and tear of large crowds. Often, bleacher maintenance goes overlooked and can cause serious accidents that your school or venue could be held responsible for.

Annual bleacher maintenance is essential and annual inspections are often required by most insurance companies to maintain the standards required for the policy and code. We are fully staffed and can arrange bleacher maintenance at your earliest convenience.