During these winter months, you may notice your employees pull out the personal heaters for their workspace. In other cases, you may need to raise the room temperature due to the cold weather. Whichever situation you may fall in, be sure to know space heaters and other heating equipment can cause a fire during the winter.

If you fall into a situation where there’s a fire in your building, you should have your air ducts inspected and cleaned because they could be contaminated with smoke, which can lead to poor air quality and respiratory problems. Clean air ducts and a well-maintained HVAC system are essential for your business’s daily operations. If your property has suffered any fire damage, it’s time to get your HVAC system checked by professionals.

In other cases of a fire disaster, a section of your business may have been seriously damaged, which can halt your business. It’s important to ensure your customers, personal, and tenants are safe and away from the damage. Our experts will assess the damages and offer you temporary solutions to continue your business...

HOUSTON, January 12, 2021 – Cotton Holdings Inc. (“Cotton”), a leading infrastructure support services company in the fast-growing commercial restoration market, today announced the acquisition of Stellar Restoration Services (“Stellar”), a provider of comprehensive roofing restoration services for hail and weather-related damage to commercial properties. Stellar will retain its name and operate as a wholly-owned subsidiary of Cotton under the continued leadership of co-Founders Michael de la Mora and Rick Bailey, who will retain an ownership interest in the business. Financial terms of the private transaction were not disclosed.

The acquisition of Stellar is part of Cotton’s expansion strategy to meet the growing demand for commercial restoration services in North America and globally. Headquartered in Houston with an international logistics center and a number of regional offices, Cotton provides property restoration and recovery, construction, roofing, consulting, temporary workforce housing and culinary services to public and private...

The start of a new fiscal year can inspire business owners to improve their facilities, services, and products. If capital improvements and renovations are a part of your 2021 plan, then Cotton Global Disaster Solutions has the solutions and experience you need to give your facilities a facelift without extended periods of downtime.

Cotton GDS has over 24 years of experience providing top-quality construction services for CapEx projects, which we leverage for our clients in order to enhance and improve the value of a client’s commercial property. Even something as simple as a new coat of paint is improved exponentially when done by an expert hand, although our experience goes far beyond that.

It can be easy to think that these renovation projects are simple jobs that you, as a business owner, can handle yourself, however, Cotton GDS offers key advantages that are critical to our success as a commercial contractor.

For one, our...

The first day of winter might not be until December 21, but across the country, many are already feeling the chill. Of course, the winter season and its effects mean different things for different people. Many businesses find themselves dealing with specific emergencies when the cold weather starts rolling in. In fact, according to The Hartford, 15% of all small business property and liability claims come from freezing damage and winter-specific water damage alone. The best way to enjoy the season without dealing with winter damage is by keeping the following in mind.

Minimizing Roof Damage Due to Ice or Snow Accumulation

Snowball fights, building snowmen, there’s nothing quite like fresh snowfall to bring out the magic of the season. However, snow, alongside ice, can spell danger for a business. If a snowstorm brings a large amount of snowfall to the area, or if rain accumulates and freezes in large amounts, your business’s roof could be in trouble. The added weight can...

According to a study done by the National Fire Protection Association (NFPA), in 2019 there were 120,000 non-residential fires in the United States, causing $4.3 billion in direct property damage. Though the top causes vary by industry, based on NFPA reports, the majority of fires in commercial properties are caused by cooking equipment, electrical distribution/lighting equipment, heating equipment, and arson.

• Call in The Fire Restoration Experts
• Educating your staff and tenants on fire prevention is a smart move for any business, but education can’t guarantee that a fire will never occur. Should your commercial property experience a fire, there are two people you should call – your insurance adjuster and a professional restoration company. With over twenty years of experience in commercial...

In August, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) had to raise their predictions for the Atlantic Hurricane Season from 13-19 named storms to 19-25. With two months left in the season and 23 storms in, businesses should remain alert and refresh their emergency plans as needed.

To help you through the rest of the season, our team has put together the Cotton Hurricane Resource Hub with tips on pre-loss planning and how to recover your business after a storm. We’ve also included information about our services and case studies that showcase Cotton Global Disaster Solutions’ full suite of capabilities.

Each section of the Hurricane Resource Hub was designed to help business leaders and property managers with three very important preparedness topics - Make A Plan, Prepare for Disasters, and Have A Trusted Partner.

• Make A Plan
• Design an emergency plan that every employee can easily follow. Where will they go if they’re on the property...

4,000 Meals and Water Cases Distributed to Families in Lake Charles

In the weeks since Hurricane Laura’s destruction, Cotton GDS, Cotton Logistics, and Cotton Culinary have been working diligently to provide water damage mitigation, roof repairs, reconstruction, temporary facilities, and thousands of meals to businesses affected by the storm. In addition to helping our clients, Cotton wanted to give back to the community we’re a part of.

On Thursday, September 10, members of the Cotton leadership team and volunteers from Cotton’s Community Response team loaded our box trucks and set up a drive-by distribution station in Lake Charles. Over the course of several hours, we distributed 4,000 meal packs and water cases to community residents.

None of this would have been possible without the generous help of our partners: Sysco,...

To our friends, families, and neighbors affected by Hurricane Laura, the hearts of the entire Cotton Team are with you.

This week, we saw how quickly and drastically a hurricane can impact an entire city. As we returned to our office in Lake Charles and visited communities in the path of the storm, we saw buildings destroyed and homes torn apart. It’s not easy to see because these aren’t just buildings or physical homes; they represent our community. They’re where we dedicate our talents to provide for our families and house our most cherished memories of each generation. Each building has a story to tell, and it’s our story.

As part of this community, Cotton is heartbroken to see the destruction. We’ll be doing everything we can to bring normalcy to Lake Charles, Orange, Beaumont, and the rest of the communities impacted by Hurricane Laura. The road to recovery is long, but we are confident in its success because the community is resilient and optimistic.

The Cotton Team is currently in the field, assessing damages with clients and providing temporary...

Article provided by Lance J. Ewing, Executive Vice President (EVP) of Global Risk Management for Cotton Global Disaster Solutions. He is former president of the Risk and Insurance Management Society (RIMS) and is a frequent keynote speaker on Crisis Management.

President John F. Kennedy once stated, “When written in Chinese, the word crisis is composed of two characters. One represents danger and the other represents opportunity.” The year 2020 certainly has qualified as a year of both. COVID- 19, economic and job impacts, protests, riots and unrest would all qualify as danger or challenges for this year. On the other hand, the opportunities have been to work from home or anywhere, increased use and innovation of technology, Federal, state and local reassessments and improvements on handling a pandemic, an increase in medical supplies and equipment and, most importantly, a full review by businesses of their crisis management plan. The timeworn saying is that “if you fail to plan, you plan to fail.” Clearly, 2020 demonstrates that planning is the key to success for...

Cotton Roofing has been honored with one of the most prestigious awards in the commercial roofing industry. Excellence in Single-Ply (ESP) was established in 1998 as a means to recognize Carlisle SynTec Systems’ most loyal and dedicated authorized applicators. When partnering with recipients of this exclusive award, clients can rest assured they’ve trusted their business to the very best in the industry.

Awarded annually, only the most accomplished applicators achieve ESP status. Qualification is determined by sales volume, product mix, high-performance assemblies, and quality of workmanship.

The entire Cotton Team is proud of our roofing technicians and leadership for their continuous achievements and dedication to our clients. To learn more about Cotton Roofing’s capabilities, visit CottonRoofing.com.