Global Shop Solutions, a global provider of ERP software for manufacturers, has been active in relief, cleanup and recovery efforts since Hurricane Harvey struck the Houston area where the company is based. Following the company’s ‘safety-first’ mandate, all employees were contacted to ensure they and their families were safe. Then the company arranged to place employees and their familiar who had to evacuate their homes into hotels and rented cars for the many who lost theirs in floods so that they would have transportation when the flood waters receded.
“As a family-owned business, Global Shop Solutions has always embraced community service as a core value,” said president and CEO Dusty Alexander. “When the extent of the devastation hit home, our first thought as an organization was ‘How can we help?’ I’m proud of our employees for reaching out to help friends, neighbors and others they didn’t know. We didn’t have to ask them to do it; they took it upon themselves to get involved.”
When the worst of the storm passed, Global Shop Solutions employees began organizing rebuild crews. After cleaning up several co-workers’ homes that suffered extensive damage, the crews then began assisting neighbors and others in their communities.
Returning water-soaked homes to a safe, dry condition was an arduous process that required removing clothing, furniture, appliances, carpet, walls and insulation. Many homes also needed wet/dry vacuums to suction outstanding water. Virtually all them need large fans to dry the interior of the home.
“It always feels good to lend a hand to people in need,” said Nick Knight, Global Shop Solutions’ director of consulting and Implementation, who helped organize the crews. “But you had to see the devastation to believe it. People work all their lives to own a home and seeing them destroyed or seriously damaged pulls at your heart. Driving down a street and seeing furniture, washing machines, cabinets and piles of sheet rock in front yard after front yard is a sight I can’t forget.”
Global Shop Solutions is based in The Woodlands, Texas.
