An Organic Evolution, an Innovative Solution

Cotton Logistics
Written by Robert Hoshowsky

With a telling past and a bright future, Cotton Logistics is one of the world’s top workforce housing companies, which illustrates the importance of experience and specialization. Operating in some of the toughest scenarios on earth, Cotton Logistics is skilled in providing workforce housing services which support and sustain labor forces in remote or high-risk environments.
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Throughout the globe, Cotton Logistics operates in all environments, empowering businesses from a range of sectors to operate safely and efficiently. Although workforce housing services are a crucial component of any remote project, the role is particularly specialized, demanding a range of managerial skills and expertise. Cotton Logistics’ success in the field is connected to a long history of working in tough environments.

According to Ron Brittain, Vice President of Business Development, it is this experience, paired with skilled workers and a companywide passion, which continues to drive the firm’s success to this day. He explains, “Our people and our passion are bringing a fresh new way of providing accommodations.”

An organic evolution
Cotton Logistics is one the leading providers of workforce housing design and creation, but the firm’s evolution is a key component of its progression into the highly demanding sector in which it operates today. Indeed, the company started out as a disaster relief firm working in some of the toughest environments and high-pressure scenarios on Earth. Brittain explains that, “As a large domestic, as well as international Disaster Recovery firm we had been dealing with the same issue that we are seeing in the Energy Sector today.” Working in the disaster recovery business, the company was trained to respond to major environmental events.

Often, after a major event such as a hurricane, local infrastructure was unable to support the thousands of workers necessary to respond. During this work Cotton Logistics came to the realization that it was very difficult to house their laborers adequately and comfortably. As a result, the company had no choice but to create it themselves, a decision which ultimately changed the trajectory of the company forever.

The move to workforce housing was organic, since the company had the existing expertise necessary to manage the high-pressure and multifaceted demands of the industry. “Our roots being in the Disaster Recovery Business, which had us working against challenging timelines in challenging environments, made the transition very natural,” says Brittain. After years of work in the disaster recovery sector, Cotton Logistics became renowned for its work in the workforce housing sector, an achievement which gained the firm an international reputation and its first major contract with British Petroleum.

Following on from this contract, which called for the creation of housing for over 3000 workers, key staff formulated a business plan for the future of Cotton Logistics and, as Brittain says, “we have never looked back.”

Address diverse needs
Cotton Logistics today primarily serves the energy market, an industry built on dynamism and an ability to work under pressure. The multi-dimensional and highly demanding role carried out by the firm requires not only flexibility, but innovation. “Our background is one that does not lend itself to thinking inside the box; our history is one that was always challenging management with creative ways to solve problem sets for our clients,” says Brittain.

As a result of the company’s unique history, Cotton Logistics is able to plan and provide services in tough environments, a point of pride for the firm. Often, Cotton Logistics is called to create workforce housing structures in remote or hazardous areas, areas other firms avoid. Brittain explains that, “What I believe truly makes our company unique is the sense that we are not afraid to tackle any job or build a ‘value added’ type of project when it truly helps our clients, when most traditional workforce housing firms would not tackle it.” The company has built a name for itself on the notion of being able to respond to any scenario while working to the specification of the client, a feat which is not easy, but is essential to the company’s avid growth.

Turnkey solutions
Cotton Logistics is highly skilled in providing tailor-made, turnkey housing solutions to major works. In the workforce housing sector the team has set itself apart by providing a consultative approach which responds to the needs of private or closed accommodation providers. “Our approach to a turnkey project is taking the initial idea that a client has and building and managing all aspects of the project from initial site work, to the day to day management and catering of the facility,” says Brittain. “This allows us to streamline the project and maintain complete control in-house to maintain ‘Cotton Logistics’ standards, which we believe to be the highest in our industry.”

Often when it comes to workforce housing, companies are forced to seek out multiple providers and subcontractors. Cotton Logistics’ innovative full-service approach provides clients with an alternative option that guarantees a high level of quality control and centralized management. The firm’s turnkey, custom approach is an essential component of its growing success, Brittain explains. “Each of our clients’ needs are different, and the same client’s needs can be different in different geographical regions – so instead of us building something that we feel makes sense for Cotton Logistics, we listen to our clients to help design a customizable solution to fit their problem set.” Working to the specifications of each unique project benefits the customers by creating adaptive and efficient solutions to suit the varying environmental settings of each.

Highly skilled staff
Cotton Logistics’ biggest strength is its experiential knowledge, a feature which backs the firm’s company culture and approach. According to Brittain, Cotton Logistics’ team is at the heart of the company. “Our staff is the most important piece of our business,” he believes.

The team blends a range of skills and expertise to respond to the needs of each site, providing every facet of “man camp” management. After years operating as a disaster recovery firm, Cotton Logistics understands the importance of a diverse team of top of the line staff. Brittain emphasizes that, “Our staff is very specific in their qualifications; our construction team has decades of large commercial construction experience, our culinary team and executive chefs are highly trained and focus specifically on providing our clients with highly nutritious and enjoyable culinary experience, our day to day management comes from the hospitality and hotel industry.”

Cotton Logistics’ role on a site is multifaceted in that, not only does the company provide the housing structures, but it also provides catering in addition to other forms of on-site support. Indeed, “Once a project is built and open we transition from a general contractor to the ‘hospitality business.’” As Cotton Logistics grows, it continues to invest in the training and recruitment of top of the line staff. This feature is an ongoing and generative process which continues to keep the company at the head of the pack.

A promising future
The company exemplifies the benefits of learning and growing within a specialized market sector. Through building on a strong foundation of experiential knowledge, Cotton Logistics has been able to provide quality and custom solutions to the labor housing challenges of the energy sector.

Recently awarded the “General Supplier of the Year Award” at the Oil and Gas Awards in Dalla this past October, the firm continues to gain widespread industry recognition. The team’s commitment to service is unparalleled, with staff often living and working alongside clients on a daily basis. Despite the company’s existing work on some of the globe’s top energy projects, Brittain maintains that Cotton Logistics will continue to reach further, endeavoring to seek out other dynamic growth opportunities.

Today, experiential expertise continues to inform the Cotton Logistics approach, a feature which has served to bolster the firm’s expansion. Remaining at the forefront of industry is a constant challenge, but regardless of how the future takes shape, Brittain explains that Cotton Logistics remains committed to quality, stating, “There are a lot of different directions Cotton Logistics can go… but we will be diverse and hold our company up to the same standards we do today, regardless of how large we become.” In the end, Cotton Logistics’ commitment and passion are built on the founding principles of experiential knowledge, a surefire formula for success.

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