About Jim Thompson Co
Jim Thompson has been in the Commercial-Industrial-Restoration-Hazmat Industry for forty years. For the past 10 years Jim has been consulting with restoration companies, giving large commercial-industrial consultations and marketing workshops, all over the United States and in Canada and Australia.
He is on the ANSI-IICRC Standards Consensus Body and Vice Chair of the IICRC Safety and Health Handbook Committee, a member of the IICRC Commercial Water Damage Consensus Body and on the IICRC S-900 Illicit Drugs, Cannabis, and Nicotine Residue Consensus Body.
About
Jim Thompson has been in the Commercial-Industrial-Restoration-Hazmat Industry for forty years. For the past 10 years Jim has been consulting with restoration companies, given large commercial-industrial consultatation & marketing workshops, all over the United States, Canada and Australia. He is on the ANSI-IICRC Standards Consensus Body and Vice Chair of the IICRC Safety and Health Handbook Committee, a member of the IICRC Commercial Water Damage Consensus Body and on the IICRC S-900 Illicit Drugs, Cannabis, and Nicotine Residue Consensus Body.
Company history
Jim Thompson started cleaning carpet while still in the US Navy in San Diego, CA in 1974. After he got out of the service he continued in the cleaning business and in 1978 started deodorizing after factory fires. After he got out of the service he continued in the cleaning business and in 1978 started deodorizing after factory fires. “In the early days,” according to Thompson, “state of the art was only saving 50% of what we deodorized. In other words we ruined about half and half.” The urban legend was that no one could ever get smoke smell out after a fire. We disproved that 50% of the time.”
“Starting Better Cleaning Service in St. Louis got my feet wet in the water damage industry and I met Cliff Zlotknik and Lloyd Weaver at an AIDS convention in Las Vegas in 1981. They changed my life forever.
I joined AIDS-Association of Interior Decor Specialists, and its National Institute of Fire Restoration (NIFR).
With AIDS, I was able to learn from some of the very first courses in our industry, including the coveted “Certified Carpet Inspectors” course from one of the founders of the disaster cleanup training industry, Marty King. I became a “AIDS Certified Inspector”
With my Better Cleaning Service growing, thanks to my large loss- factory deodorizations, I attended the AIDS Convention in Las Vegas at Caesars Palace. The marquee in front of Caesars Palace welcomed our convention in big letters for the entire Vegas strip to see.
‘WELCOME AIDS MEMBERS’
The same week, all 3 nightly network news teams broke the leading story, AIDS is a homosexual disease from San Francisco that is killing them. Not PC by todays standards.
Here we are with BIG AIDS Conventions name tags, and mine has a bold black extra line highlighted in yellow.
‘CERTIFIED AIDS INSPECTOR
People were pointing at us and almost screaming in terror.
I had the time of my life. After meeting Cliff, Lloyd and my fellow National Institute of Fire Restoration-AIDS members, I knew I found my group, my industry, my passion.
A group dedicated to getting people back to work after disasters and having fun-travel-adventure and excitement doing it.
Cliff taught me deodorizing using a thermo-gen, a process that developed with UNSMOKE and fire cleanup and Lloyd taught me to use the carpet dryer which he had invented.”
Both true pioneers in the industry, Jim joined their new franchise, RestorX and became the President of Restorx St. Louis. He said “It was great to be working with Cliff and Lloyd however, the Restorx Franchise didn’t take off internationally as we had hoped,”
With Restorx struggling, Jim changed the name to CATCO, Catastrophe Cleaning and Restoration Company.
CATCO grew through-out the region and Thompson only liking large commercial losses sold it in 1989. The company is still in operation in St. Louis. Jim Thompson & Co Inc. began a long run of factory fire cleanups, shopping mall fires and floods and before long working with 10 semi-trucks and company aircraft “Around the Clock-Around the Country” ® Jim Thompson & Co Inc. had worked in 43 states and Puerto Rico on some of the largest losses in the US.
Jim Thompson had long running ads in Risk Management Magazine and for years had the outside back cover of Claims magazine, sitting on his 1916 pool table in his beautiful office with a sign over his head “Will Work for Hundreds of Thousands of Dollars” or standing in front of his company pressurized twin engine aircraft with the caption “We are a Fly By Night Operation.”
Jim Thompson’s research in the use of the infrared band to locate water was published internationally and in 2005 NASA contacted him to conduct research to locate water and caves on Mars. Jim officially closed Jim Thompson & Co. Nationwide Disaster Strike Force in 2006 and went on 10 NASA Science Expeditions on 3 continents conducting research to locate caves on other planets suitable for human habitation. Jim continued to consult with insurance company, risk managers and restoration firms about large losses and the use of science to improve conditions rapidly on disaster job sites.
Jim continues to this day with his research and works with restoration companies, risk managers and insurance companies to improve the industry and provide the very best service to the client.
After all it is the factory or commercial business that needs to get back in operation as fast as possible to save American jobs and preserve the income for the community.
NASA’s bios
Spaceward Bound Expedition: Australia 2009
Journals
Science is being conducted on the ground and in the air during Spaceward Bound.
Over the Australian Outback Jim Thompson, The Explorers Club, took thermographic images of cave and karst features on July 12, 2009 as part of the NASA Spaceward Bound Australia Outback Expedition 2009. The Spaceward Bound Expedition in cooperation with the Australian Mars Society, combined scientists and teachers from the US and Australia teachers and are conducting real time research analog Mars exploration in the Australian Outback.
Today Jim paid special attention to a thermal pool at Paralana Hot Springs. The pool is a natural radioactive hot spring and provided an excellent thermal gradient to test the procedure.
Jim & team took thermographic pictures from a light airplane with a bird’s eye view of the site while a group of teachers took measurements on the ground using thermometers and other instruments that will be utilized to calibrate figures into the research.
Initial results were extremely positive with a radio active hot pool being positively identified from an altitude of approx 1,500
feet.
July 13, 2009
From Jim Thompson
Planning and Executing Planetary Analog Field Research Expeditions: MoJave 2007
He retired from over 25 years of owning a nationwide disaster restoration company that specialized in cleaning up after industrial catastrophes and now devotes his time to infrared research using thermography to locate caves and working on his captain’s license at sea. He also works as an instructor at a dive shop in Clearwater, Florida.
Jim’s papers on thermographic research are published in the US and abroad. As a member of the NASA Atacama Desert Science Team 2006, he conducted extensive thermographic research of cave entrances in the Atacama Desert Chile. He was on the 2007 and 2008 Spaceward Bound Expeditions to the Mojave Desert in California, NASA Spaceward Bound Australian Outback Science Expedition 2009, and was the expedition photographer for Pavilion Lake 2008. He taught at the International Space University,
ACCESS MARS program, 2009 at NASA Ames and both NASA Mojave Desert Science
Expeditions 2010 and 2010
He is the chairman of the Florida Chapter of The Explorers Club, a lifetime member of the
National Speleological Society, a Fellow of the Royal Geographical Society, and CEO of Out There Expeditions LLC www.outthereexpeditions.com.
On the ANSI-IICRC Standards Consensus Body and Vice Chair of the IICRC Safety and Health Handbook Committee
OSHA Outreach Trainer
Expert Witness in Federal and in many State Courts
HAZWOPER Classes
