Hurricane Katrina — After the Storm

“Nowadays, people are discussing how things are going, how they’re progressing, moving on (instead of how they weren’t). The talk now is about getting back to normal—business as usual. Their mantra is to become profitable once more.” PI

Pennies From Heaven? No, $50K From PIAS

The Printing Industry Association of the South (PIAS), headed by Ed Chalifoux, set up a disaser relief fund, which raised up to $50,000 for printers impacted by Katrina. PIAS received contributions from PIAS members, as well as other members of the PIA/GATF, especially from the Florida and New England regions.

PIAS gave the money to printers, who, in turn, gave the money to their employees. The amount averaged between $3,000 and $5,000 for each printer, or about $400 per person.

“It wasn’t a lot of money, but everyone who received it was very grateful,” Chalifoux says. “These people lost everything. When you have nothing, a little means a lot. A few hundred bucks seemed like a few thousand. That’s how thankful they were.”

Firsthand Survival Tips

Management at Harvey Press learned a lot in the aftermath of Katrina. When their New Orleans printing business, Harvey Press, was completely destroyed, the biggest lesson they learned was “How to Survive.”

They survived, first, by outsourcing their work to “backup printers” that they had contacted on higher, dryer ground. Later, they merged with another local firm, Hauser Printing, and created an entirely new company: Harvey-Hauser Printing.

Today, Brian David and Jerry Hudgens are back on their feet, and their merged printing operation is back in business. While struggling to get back to (Harvey’s) pre-Katrina revenues, the printers claim they are doing fine. They report that, in a city that lost two out of every five people, they are well on their way to full recovery.