Workforce Lodging is a type of multifamily residential rental that targets middle-income households. Tenants who qualify for workforce housing often have government-subsidized vouchers that cover part of the rent.
Teams supporting workforce lodging need access to robust reporting to drive strategic decision-making and boost operational efficiency. This is where software like SmartLodge comes in handy.
Black Diamond Lodging & Accommodations, the distinguished brand within the Workforce Solutions (WFS) business unit of Black Diamond Group, is at the forefront of providing superior lodging solutions for remote workforces across North America. The company offers a comprehensive range of services that encompass the rental, leasing and sale of top-tier workforce accommodations.
Black Diamond Group has a long-standing history of working collaboratively with First Nations communities to develop projects that benefit both people and the environment. The company has a proven track record of successfully delivering projects on time and budget, and is recognized for its commitment to safety and quality.
The company is proud to have recently entered into an agreement with Gitxaala Enterprises Limited Partnership to provide workforce housing and related services for various oil and gas projects on the Gitxaala Territory. The agreement is a significant milestone in Black Diamond Group’s ongoing effort to expand its operations throughout Canada and the United States.
In addition to the company’s robust service offerings, Black Diamond Lodging & Accommodations is committed to creating a positive workplace culture and supporting the well-being of its employees. To this end, it has created a number of amenities designed to foster connection and community, including recreation facilities, fitness centres and wellness centers. The company also prioritizes the health and safety of its employees by providing on-site medical services and promoting healthy eating habits.
To learn more about Black Diamond Lodging & Accommodations, visit their website or call 1-800-662-7837.
Located slope-side at the Snow Park base area of Deer Valley Resort, these one to four-bedroom luxury ski-in/ski-out residences are designed to inspire family time and relaxation. Featuring premium finishes and oversized family areas, these homes are an exceptional retreat that is sure to enhance any vacation experience.
Black Diamond Group is a specialty rentals and industrial services Company with two operating business units – Modular Space Solutions (MSS) and Workforce Solutions (WFS). MSS, through its principal brands of BOXX Modular, Britco, CL Martin and Schiavi, owns a large rental fleet of modular building assets of all sizes. WFS, through its principal brand of Black Diamond Lodging & Accommodations, provides modular space and temporary workforce accommodations to a diverse customer base in the construction, mining, industrial, education and energy sectors.
SmartLodge®
The construction industry faces complex challenges, but SmartLodge provides a cutting-edge solution to optimize project planning and delivery. SmartLodge’s software allows contractors and project managers to collaborate seamlessly, streamlines document management, and automates scheduling. SmartLodge also offers tools to manage inventory and asset tracking, which helps reduce costs and improve productivity.
Whether managing a remote workforce camp or an energy company’s commercial space rentals, SmartLodge’s robust rooms and rental management capabilities provide a competitive advantage for all types of accommodations. The system’s advanced guest profiles allow for accurate room and space allocation and can support multiple pricing models, including packaged meal prices. In addition, the system enables precise meal consumption tracking via badge or key card swipes at dining facilities and automatically flows this data into charge sheets, board bills, or other billing documents.
Sodexo, which oversees operations at Cedar Valley Lodge (CVL), is using SmartLodge to unlock a number of operational efficiencies. For example, the system has simplified the reservation process, allowing multiple parties internal and external to easily create, modify, or cancel reservations. This has helped maximize room utilization during peak demand and has also made it easier for CVL to meet guest needs. SmartLodge has also enhanced communication between staff and guests with its digital roll call functionality. In the event of an emergency evacuation, designated staff members can swiftly account for individuals across different muster stations.
Another important feature is the ability to automatically charge credit cards upon booking a rental. This saves time and effort for front desk staff, housekeeping, and maintenance who no longer need to manually track charges. It also helps ensure that a guest’s payment is current and that the correct party is being charged for the correct rental.
The SmartLodge team can assist with implementing a wide variety of additional features and applications to further enhance the user experience. For example, the SmartLodge platform can be used to digitally register guests upon arrival and capture their signatures for mandatory camp-related documents. These include the Camp Rules & Regulations and the Drug & Alcohol policy. This eliminates the need to have these documents printed and signed, which reduces costs and environmental impact.
Shelter Management System
Organizing the many services your shelter provides can be complex, especially when you’re dealing with multiple partners and stakeholders. Management software can simplify the process, helping you to coordinate service plans and provide streamlined communication with clients. Moreover, it can help you meet regulatory requirements and submit reports to funding agencies.
Homeless shelters face a number of challenges, including the lack of adequate housing and high demand for services. The Coordinated Entry system (CES) addresses these challenges by connecting people experiencing homelessness with housing programs and other services. But without a comprehensive data system, it can be difficult to track progress or identify barriers to housing stability.
Real-time information on housing space availability can improve the CE processes and decision-making of communities and service providers. This can also aid in prioritizing the most vulnerable individuals and families in your care. In addition, real-time housing data can help shelter managers optimize available resources and prevent overcrowding.
For example, the City of Dallas implemented HC Shelter Tracking in 2018. The online platform allows shelters and other organizations to share current bed counts and shelter space availability with authorized users. By eliminating the need to call each agency individually, it saves staff time and makes it easier for homeless people to find safety.
The system also helps to streamline the process of identifying shelter space for women who are survivors of domestic violence. It allows staff at different shelters to connect with one another and determine the best course of action for each individual case. The City of Dallas used HC Shelter Tracking to identify and secure housing for thousands of victims in the first few years of operation.
While the Coordinated Entry system has increased the number of permanent housing placements, it has also created a gap between available capacity and client demand. As a result, many people remain in shelters longer than they should, and there is still a significant need for temporary housing options. However, by leveraging real-time data on housing space availability, the City of Dallas can increase its ability to place vulnerable individuals and families into appropriate shelters quickly.
SmartLodge Reporting
Optimize room management and streamline check-ins at remote camp lodging with powerful reporting capabilities. Facilitate efficient communication between departments supporting accommodation and transportation bookings to minimize un-utilized rooms, transport seats and overall operational costs.
Smartlodge supports the entire spectrum of lodging options on the project site, including company owned and leased housing units, cabins or lodges built by contractors, individual homes for project staff and their families, multi-bedroom bunkhouses and even deluxe hotel suites. The system also enables the tracking of single or multi-room assignments, interconnected rooms and shared en-suite bathrooms, as well as enabling managers to manage and track room availability for incoming crews.
Integrated reservation data automatically populates front desk staff’s reservation book, reducing check in times and increasing accuracy of guest arrival data. This streamlined process improves front desk efficiency while enhancing guest satisfaction, particularly after long travel days to camp. SmartLodge also offers robust room rate management tools to simplify and optimize billing operations, including detailed charge sheets that can be auto-generated, versioned for approval and/or internal reconciliation. Billing data can then be seamlessly pushed to external accounting systems, minimizing manual entry and ensuring that Smartlodge charges match with the external system’s general ledger accounts.
The system provides superintendents with a panoramic view of crew rotations and schedules, allowing them to accurately project on-site presence by department, craft or shift. This information, in conjunction with the room booking feature, allows superintendents to reserve accommodations and transport seats based on anticipated needs for future rotations. This maximizes resources and minimizes the use of unnecessary space, resulting in savings to the project budget.
Front desk staff can instantly see the status of occupied rooms, facilitating blocking for inbound guests or preventing them from being assigned to rooms that require cleaning or maintenance work. Additionally, front desk staff can quickly view reservations made by contractors or sub-contractors permitted to book into a specific allotment of rooms at any given time.
Yokoy’s SmartLodge technology is fully configurable to meet the unique requirements of each project. Map out end-to-end approval workflows, configure them per entity and apply rules to ensure that the right people are reviewing the most relevant spend details. Then, bring all your T&E and supplier invoices into a single, central platform with Yokoy’s SmartLodge Card. Eliminate the need to pay by credit or debit cards and eliminate transaction fees, foreign exchange fees and card fees*.