Belfor
| Company type | Private |
|---|---|
| Industry | Disaster recovery, Property restoration |
| Founded | 1946 |
| Headquarters | Birmingham, Michigan , United States |
Area served | Global |
Number of employees | 7,000 (2016) |
| Parent | BELFOR Europe GmbH |
BELFOR Property Restoration is a global disaster recovery and property restoration firm headquartered in Birmingham, Michigan, United States.
History
The company began in 1946 under the name Quality Awnings & Construction in Dearborn, Michigan. In 1981, it was rebranded as INRECON L.L.C.—an abbreviation for Insurance Reconstruction. In 1997, Masco, a corporation based in Taylor, Michigan, acquired a 25% ownership interest and completed full acquisition by 1999.
Separately, Haniel EnviroServices was founded in Germany in 1980 as part of the European conglomerate Haniel and later changed its name to Belfor in 1998.
In 2001, Masco divested INRECON to Haniel, merging it into BELFOR. At that point, BELFOR reported $180 million in annual revenue and had a workforce of 1,000 employees.
Early in 2019, Belfor Holdings Inc. engaged in negotiations for acquisition by American Securities, a private equity firm, finalizing the transaction by April of that year.
United States of America operations
BELFOR USA Group Inc., operating under the name BELFOR Property Restoration and based in Birmingham, Michigan, offers comprehensive disaster recovery and property restoration solutions. It functions as a subsidiary of BELFOR Europe GmbH.
In 2007, BELFOR USA expanded by acquiring Ductz International, LLC—a franchise specializing in air duct cleaning and HVAC restoration with operations across 22 states. Further growth occurred through the acquisitions of Hawaii Restorative Services in Honolulu and Coach's Catastrophe in 2010, followed by BAMCOR in 2015.
The company enhanced its footprint in Texas by launching offices in Corpus Christi, Texas and San Antonio during 2016. That year, BELFOR’s global workforce numbered around 7,000 employees.
Projects
In 2003, BELFOR Canada successfully salvaged approximately 100,000 books and manuscripts from the 17th-century Khan Collection housed at the Urdu Research Library of the Sundarayya Vignana Kendram, which suffered flood damage due to unprecedented rainfall in Hyderabad. The firm also provided restoration services following Tropical Storm Allison in Houston in 2001, rehabilitating assets at Jones Hall, Wortham Theater Center, and Alley Theater—including musical scores, ballet costumes, and three Steinway concert grand pianos.
After Hurricane Ivan struck in 2004, BELFOR UK and Canada applied thermal vacuum freeze methods to recover over 4,000 boxes of critical documents from the Cayman Islands National Archives. Post-Hurricane Katrina in 2005, BELFOR contributed to Tulane University’s emergency response efforts notably via the Tulane Libraries Recovery Center.
Additional major undertakings involved recovery operations after the Chile earthquake and during the 2012 event known as Super Storm Sandy.
Awards
- 2012 RIA Phoenix Award for rebuilding UGI Headquarters
- 2013 Chrysalis Award for Residential Insurance Restoration; supported a family with home redesign following fire damage
- 2015 Chrysalis Award for Commercial Insurance Restoration; restored water-damaged Gallo Center for the Arts
- 2016 Chrysalis National Award for Commercial Insurance Restoration; rehabilitated the historic Hanford Fox Theatre
- 2016 RIA Phoenix Award for innovative restoration work at Odessa Hospital
External links
- CNBC - Interview with BELFOR CEO on Sandy Cleanup
- CBS MoneyWatch - The Rise of BELFOR as the Leading Disaster Recovery Firm
- Highlighting Economic Achievements - Sheldon Yellen and his distinctive leadership approach.[1]