Ashlee Poplin - Cotney Carolina Office Weathering the Storm - PODCAST TRANSCRIPTION

Editor's note: The following is the transcript of an live interview with Ashlee Poplin of Carolinas Cotney Construction Law Office and Heidi Ellsworth, RoofersCoffeeShop Owner. You can read the interview below, or listen to the podcast.

Heidi Ellsworth:
Welcome to Roofing Road Trips with Heidi. Explore the roofing industry through the eyes of a longterm professional within the trade. Listen for insights, interviews, and exciting news in the roofing industry today.
Hello and welcome to another Roofing Road Trip. My name is Heidi Ellsworth and I'm with roofers coffee shop. And I am here today to visit with Ashlee Poplin of Cottony Attorneys and Consultants. And let's say that again, because that just happened. We had a new logo and a new name for Cottony, Cottony Attorneys and Consultants. And it's so exciting. So welcome to the show today, Ashlee.

Ashlee Poplin:
Thank you so much. I really appreciate you having me.

Heidi Ellsworth:
We talked last year and so much has happened since you and I talked before. I'm really excited to kind of get some updates to hear how you're doing, but for those who may not have listened to the podcast before, can you introduce yourself and just tell us a little bit about the Cottony Carolina's office?

Ashlee Poplin:
Sure. My name is Ashlee Poplin. I'm here, we're located in Charlotte, North Carolina, [inaudible 00:01:08] North and South Carolina. Things are really good here. I know, like you said, it's been a while since we've talked and in the Carolinas, because Cottony about a year ago was new to the Carolina market. They had just opened up and right before COVID kind of shut everything down, so we had kind of talked about that things. It's been really nice to be able to serve this market through that kind of pandemic crisis and kind of work through it together and see what we can do for the roofing industry through that process. And I'm looking forward to getting back out there and meeting a lot of these people that I've met virtually, face-to-face.

Heidi Ellsworth:
I know we're all looking forward to getting back out there and seeing everybody and that's been really part of the fun with the Cottony group. Because right now, I mean, we're continuing to do this podcast series around Cottony Around the Globe because you are all just growing so fast and bringing so much together. But one of the things I love about the commitment from the Cottony group is really to stay local, to really understand the states that you're in. And so for you with North and South Carolina, what are some of the things that you're seeing there right now on a state level that's influencing or affecting contractors?

Ashlee Poplin:
Sure. So particularly in North Carolina, Governor Cooper was reelected recently through the election process and he set out a new budget with recommendations for COVID relief spending, with particular interest in the construction industry. There's a proposed $285 million proposal for the highway infrastructure, $65 million for airports. They're also proposing an increase to the unemployment benefits in North Carolina. So that was something North Carolina, even prior to the pandemic, was a place where there weren't a lot of unemployment benefits. It's one of the states with the least amount of weeks and so forth. And so that's something that they are looking to push forward to increase those benefits. Because as everywhere people are struggling because of their pandemic, in roofing industry as well. Small companies are needing that help so that's nice to see.
And there's also an interesting bill that has been presented that will allow small businesses to represent themselves in court if the amount's less than $25,000. So that is to kind of help alleviate small businesses that have been burdened by COVID to be able to go in and represent themselves in court proceedings without having to incur additional attorney's fees on top of that, which I found that interesting. And I'm interested to see how that works out.
South Carolina has also proposed a particular Safe Harbor COVID legislation. So that's interesting because it allows companies to, if passed, limit any liability that they would be exposed to because of COVID. So long as they're substantially following COVID protocols, they're not going to be held liable. They're not going to be able to have lawsuits filed against them, which will really help people continue to function in this industry without having to constantly worry about being sued. So there's a lot of interesting legislation, sparked by COVID mostly, but we're keeping on top of it here in the Carolinas.

Heidi Ellsworth:
Yeah. I mean, that's really interesting. And so a couple of things along that is going back on to what you were saying about in North Carolina where contractors can represent themselves. Like you said, that's really interesting. What do you think has brought that along? Are contractors looking to represent themselves in those small things or kind of how did that happen?

Ashlee Poplin:
So if a business entity has to usually have an attorney representing it because it's a business, it's not an individual. And so, I think it has been sparked also by the pressures from COVID for some of these smaller suits that may be spawning from COVID. People are going to be in court more. And maybe instead of putting that additional burden on them of attorney expenses when the amount in controversy is so low, it kind of just gives them another avenue to kind of protect their business. But I'm with you, I'm interested in seeing how that works. I don't know that it's necessarily a good idea, but we'll see, depending on what that situation might be for the company. We'll see.

Heidi Ellsworth:
Well, the good news is you're there and Cottony is there to help one way or the other.

Ashlee Poplin:
Right.

Heidi Ellsworth:
And so I can't imagine defending myself in court, but like you said, see where it goes. Then along that same lines with you're talking about both states, it seems like a lot of the legislation and possibly regulations are around COVID and vaccinations. So let's talk about that a little bit. Roofing contractors and contractors overall in construction, this is a hard thing. Do you require people to get vaccinated? Do you not? How is this all going to work? What are you seeing along that line?

Ashlee Poplin:
Sure. So in North Carolina and South Carolina are both on a phased vaccination plan. I think a lot of states are doing it that way. North Carolina is in phase two of five. When they get to phase three, that's going to include roofing contractors and allow them to start getting vaccinated. Because right now it's just frontline workers and over 65 is what is being vaccinated in both states, in both North and South Carolina. South Carolina, won't be getting to the essential workers, including the roofing industry until late spring. North Carolina intends to do it early spring. So they're still very close as to when they're going through these phases.
But yeah, the EOC here has determined that a vaccine is not considered a medical examination. So employers can arrange for it to be given to their employees and asking for proof of a vaccination is okay, because it's not considered a disability related question. So they're allowing you to, because a lot of times you're not able to ask certain questions about what would be considered a disability, but here they're allowing you to ask if you've got a vaccine and to show proof of that vaccine. Requiring that getting a vaccine be mandatory is permissible here, but there are some exceptions as there are with everything.

Heidi Ellsworth:
Yeah.

Ashlee Poplin:
But it's permissible to require it, but you have to be able to carve out some exceptions. You've got to carve out places for religious freedoms, disabilities. You've got to carve out reasonable accommodations and make sure that requiring your employees to get a mandatory vaccine is not what's known as an undue burden on them moving forward. So there is guidance out there. The EOC has provided it. There are also a lot of caveats to that. So if you're in a business that you're considering making it mandatory for your employees to have this vaccine, definitely reach out to us. That's something that we can talk you through to make sure you avoid any pitfalls that are there because you don't want to be terminating an employee for failure to get this vaccine if they have one of the these reasonable combinations that you can give them to avoid having to place that burden on them.

Heidi Ellsworth:
Wow, there's a lot be thinking about when. As contractors are putting all this together, first of all obviously the essential workers being out there, keeping things going, but now the vaccines. And I would say probably more than ever, depending on the experts like yourself, Ashlee, and the other attorneys and consultants at Cottony. It's going to continue to be important. And I know we're seeing all of you out there. I can't believe how much you're all doing with speaking and helping people, but with where you're at in the Carolinas, there's also more than just COVID. I know it seems crazy. We kind of live and breathe that, but last year was, I mean, when you look on top of COVID and you look at the weather, we had some crazy hurricanes and straight line winds and everything else. What are you seeing in the Carolinas along with performance products and roofs and the weather that's been going on?

Ashlee Poplin:
You're right. Combining a pandemic with a hurricane year, I mean, that was something that caught me, was preparing a lot of people through their consulting services and even through our legal services and talking about how to prepare for hurricanes, even. Interestingly, in North Carolina, so back in 2018, if you remember, Hurricane Florence was a big deal here on the East coast.

Heidi Ellsworth:
Yes.

Ashlee Poplin:
[crosstalk 00:10:23] particularly. And so just in 2020, the Hurricane Florence recovery packages were actually finally being awarded to the construction industry.

Heidi Ellsworth:
Wow.

Ashlee Poplin:
So to help rebuild a lot of that. So that had been in works, of course, since Hurricane Florence and then 2020, they are jumping on getting a lot of that stuff in place. So things, as far as hurricane relief and recovery packages are slow to develop. And of course, you've got your emergency relief, but beyond that, they are kind of slow to develop. I mean, this Hurricane Florence 2018, not getting their packages out and awarded until 2020, but it's good news. It's good news that it's happening. It's out there and that recovery is going on.

Heidi Ellsworth:
That is great. That's great because we've got more coming. I mean, this winter has just been crazy and we know it was a volatile hurricane season. So, and I'm sure this year 2021 will be too.
Speaking of 2021, when you're looking at things for the roofing industry and roofing contractors who are working with you, what are some of the business key trends, perspectives that contractors should be aware of this year, specifically to the Carolinas?

Ashlee Poplin:
Yeah, so we are still with our briefing clients. We're still seeing some supply chain trickle down effects and disruptions that have been caused and are still in effect there, which are causing increased pricing, delay in supplies being obtained. But overall, outside of that, it does appear that the roofing and construction industry have kind of weathered this pandemic well, and I suspect they'll continue to carry that forward into 2021. And especially as these relief packages do make it into the arms of the consumers, they'll continue to help the roofing industry indirectly as well. So I think that good things are coming. They've weathered the worst of it, but there are still some delays and price increases that are still trickling down. But I think it's good news.

Heidi Ellsworth:
Yeah, I do too. I mean, it seems like it kind of goes both ways. People worrying about what's going to happen in 2021, but overall it looks like it's just going to be a nice steady year. I think we could all use a little bit of that steadiness right now. And as people are kind of, I know in listening before, really making sure. I know I'm doing this with my business right now, but just making sure foundationally everybody is strong. And so when you look at some of the things that people should be doing legally for their business, what are some of the top? I mean, I think I've put down here, I was going to ask you about the top five, but what is some of the top things legally that contractors should be focused on to make sure that they're doing this year?

Ashlee Poplin:
I think number one thing needs to be looking at your contracts, make sure your contracts are revised and up to date. Make sure that they consider these supply chain disruptions,, the price increases, also any sort of delays as a result of COVID or any sort of orders that may happen. One thing that we are seeing is there are unknown variants of this virus that are coming into play. We don't know how that's going to affect us. We don't know if these vaccines will eradicate those as well, or if we're going to be going back under stay at home orders. You never know how that's going to go. Make sure your contracts are ready for that stuff. Make sure it includes provisions that protect you from the delay that you may be forced into.
And also from these supply chain and price increases. I think if you've got a strong contract, you've got a strong base and we're here to help you with that. But that would be the number one thing that I would advise everyone, make sure you have your contracts. And if you've got them, look at them, make sure they're revised and updated appropriately.

Heidi Ellsworth:
That's perfect. That's good. And then I've also been hearing a lot about collections, that collections is going to be... That you have that tight and have all the legals around that. What are you hearing there?

Ashlee Poplin:
Yeah, you're right. And that is also a by-product of kind of the squeeze that kind of happened here because of COVID. You want to stay on top of that and you don't want to let your customers to out far in front of you. You need to be able to collect and you want to be able to have your collections on a much more frequent basis. If you were letting accounts get out for 180 days or so before, you need to start collecting 30 days. You need to bump those up so that you don't put yourself in a position where your A & R values are just off the charts because you haven't been keeping up with it like you should.

Heidi Ellsworth:
Yeah. I think I'm seeing that too and a lot. And I think it's really important to put some of that. Be able to take the time to work on your business, not just in your business and doing those kinds of things. Like you said, the contracts, the receivables, the collections, all of those kinds of things are going to be important. And I know that Cottony does a lot with that kind of proactive risk management. And a lot of that goes through the subscription services that you do. Can you talk a little bit about that and maybe how that's working in the Carolinas with kind of helping contractors to stay on top of this?

Ashlee Poplin:
Sure. And that's something that's very unique to Cottony and really, an aspect that I love about what Cottony offers, is these subscription services. It allows contractors to get on a plan with Cottony where you know, what your legal fees are going to be for the year. You can budget it out. You get in this subscription service and you get unlimited calls with attorneys, unlimited lien and bond claims. And depending on what subscription service you subscribe to, depends on what types of support you're guaranteed to get. It helps keep us from having to worry about starting a clock and billing hours, because we're there for you. You call, you go to the top of the list of your subscription clients. It's there to benefit the contractors. They give you peace of mind, let you know that always we're right here and you can call us at anytime with unlimited services and information.
And I welcome anyone who's interested in discussing that more in-depth or has any questions about that. Give me a call, reach out to me individually. We also have that information for you on our website. Email me, but I do think that the subscription services are what kind of sets Cottony apart and can be very beneficial in the long run.

Heidi Ellsworth:
Yeah. And what I love about it too, is that as you go through this with your customers on a subscription, I mean, you're reviewing the HR manuals, you're reviewing the safety manuals. Maybe talk a little bit about the importance of keeping those operational manuals up to date with everything, especially with COVID.

Ashlee Poplin:
Definitely. And that's another thing about Cottony is we have attorneys that specialize in all areas of practice. So whether it be employment law, lien and bond claim law, whether it be mergers and acquisitions, we've got attorneys that specialize in all of that. And when you're a subscription client, you aren't just assigned to one attorney, you have access to all of us and all of us across the nation. So if you've got a company that's got businesses in multiple states, you don't have to worry about finding a firm in each of those states to represent your interest there. You've got all of that at Cottony, and we can help you with that.

Heidi Ellsworth:
I think that kind of proactiveness, that is going to keep them out of the courtrooms. So hopefully they won't have to worry about who is representing them in the courtroom in the Carolinas. But I think really looking at that, because the more you can do upfront proactively for your business and mitigate risk, you really save money down the road.

Ashlee Poplin:
It's true. It's true. That's definitely a benefit, for sure.

Heidi Ellsworth:
That is great. Well, anything else? Ashlee, any thoughts or anything coming out of the Carolinas that you want to share with the rest of the country?

Ashlee Poplin:
Yeah, I'm really excited about this series that you're doing. I think it's great, kind of letting everyone know what's going on all around. There are offices everywhere and it's very nice to see kind of, especially how things are so different because everything has been dealt to the states to determine how your state is going to handle things through COVID and so forth. So this is a great series that you put together. I appreciate you inviting me and having me along.

Heidi Ellsworth:
Oh, it's great, Ashlee. And I love what you're doing, keep it up. And we will be back to check in with you again and see here because I think it really does. I agree with you a hundred percent. It helps to hear what's happening around the country and to know we're all in this together. So thank you so much for being here today.

Ashlee Poplin:
Thank you. I appreciate it.

Heidi Ellsworth:
And thank you everyone for listening. These Roofing Road Trips are for you, around the country, Cottony Around the Globe, we are really checking in on people and finding out what's happening and then always you'll come out with a few nuggets afterwards. All of our podcasts can be found under read, listen, watch section of Roofers Coffeeshop. Be sure to join us there and subscribe on your favorite podcast channel. Thank you so much and have a great day.
Make sure to subscribe to our channel and leave a review. Thanks for listening. This has been Roofing Road Trips with Heidi from the rooferscoffeeshop.com.