When Hurricane Maria struck the island of Puerto Rico on September 20, the leadership team of a small Alaska Native Corporation half a world away jumped into action to help their extended family of employees.
The Sitnasuak Native Corporation of Nome has more than 800 employees in Puerto Rico at SNC Technical Services, LLC (SNCT), a wholly-owned subsidiary that is one of the largest American manufacturers of uniforms and tactical gear for the U.S. military. SNCT’s two facilities in the communities of Camuy and Orocovis were among the tens of thousands of structures damaged when Hurricane Maria made landfall on the island. Much of the island remains without power.
“Hurricane Maria devastated the island,” said Humberto Zacapa, CEO of SNC Technical Services. “While our plants suffered relatively minor damage, our employees have nearly 300 homes with damages and 57 homes that are a total lost. We’ve tried to maintain some sense of normalcy and community by providing meals and shelter to our workers and their relatives.”
In response to the hurricane, Sitnasuak mobilized leadership teams in Nome and Puerto Rico to tackle the logistical challenges of restoring power and providing essential services to their employees and their families on the island.
“Our traditional Inupiat values are part of our approach to business,” said Roberta (Bobbi) Quintavell, President and CEO of Sitnasuak Native Corporation. “We are all responsible for each other, regardless of whether you are an employee in Nome or at a subsidiary halfway around the world. As Inupiaq, we take our responsibility to take care of one another seriously.”
SITNASUAK SENDS AID TO PUERTO RICO
Sitnasuak chartered planes to deliver diesel generators and fuel, communications equipment, camp stoves, water purification systems, ice makers, and other crucial equipment to the island, enabling SNCT to restart operations within days of the storm. [xyz-ihs snippet=”adsense-body-ad”]“It was important for us as a corporation to resume operations as soon as possible, but we also wanted to be there for our extended family of employees. We knew many of them had homes that were damaged or destroyed in the hurricane and had nowhere else to go,” Quintavell said. “We were able to turn part of the cafeteria into a childcare facility during the day and a shelter for employees and their families at night. I am extremely proud of what our corporation was able to do for our Puerto Rican family.”
In addition to providing power and shelter, SNCT has also been chartering buses to help employees whose homes are still inhabitable get back and forth to work. By reopening quickly, SNCT has also been able to ensure employees don’t suffer additional economic loss. Zacapa said just three employees chose not to return to work once SNCT was reopened and they did so for personal reasons.
“The community and our 800-plus employees and their families are working together to return to normal life as much as possible amidst all the uncertainty on the island,” Quintavell said. “Getting back to work is a comforting sign that things are improving.”
