After evacuating New Orleans four times in the past five hurricane seasons, a committee of employees at Omni Bank of New Orleans devised a backup plan last year to save the company’s resources in case of disaster.
That disaster came Aug. 29, and by the time Hurricane Katrina hit the city, most of the bank’s necessities and employees were safely in Baton Rouge.
Omni Bank, which started 17 years ago in Metairie, and countless other New Orleans-based businesses are now operating in Baton Rouge, a city with a changing economy that doubled in population in the wake of the natural disaster.
Some businesses were not so fortunate, with their networks and files underwater and their employees dispersed throughout the country.
“Companies in the areas affected are still in the process of finding their employees,” said Dan Borne, president of the Louisiana Chemical Association and an instructor in the Manship School of Mass Communication.
Borne said the association does not have a complete list of the number of chemical companies moving to Baton Rouge, but said many are relocating and opening for business.
Omni Bank, which has branches mainly in Jefferson Parish, opened for business in Baton Rouge the day after the hurricane hit. The bank’s disaster recovery team met two days before the storm and divided recovery responsibilities among all departments at the bank.
The human resources department booked hotel rooms before the hurricane for employees, the operations department moved accounting and bookkeeping records from New Orleans to the bank’s Baton Rouge location and the technology department brought computer equipment to Baton Rouge.
Prior to the hurricane, Omni Bank was running a loan office in Baton Rouge that could not handle bank transactions, but the bank had submitted an application to turn it into a fully operational branch. After the hurricane, state and federal regulatory agencies granted the bank permission to make the loan office an operational branch. Omni Bank also is opening branches in Kenner and other areas surrounding New Orleans.
The Louisiana Business and Technology Center, a department in the E. J. Ourso College of Business, is working as a liaison between hard-hit businesses and the government, including the Federal Emergency Management Agency. The center is meeting with businesses affected by the hurricane and guiding them through applying for disaster loans and helping with the rebuilding process.
“We’re going to listen to [these businesses] because everyone has a story,” said Bryan Greenwood, the center’s assistant director. “And those stories need to be told.”
Greenwood said businesses register first with FEMA, then contact their insurance companies and apply for disaster assistance programs.
Many businesses are moving to Baton Rouge to be close to New Orleans, Greenwood said, but many are at a disadvantage because a large part of their clientele is dispersed all over the country.
“They’re virtually starting over,” Greenwood said. “They have to start preparing a business and strategic plan on what to do, to move forward and jump when they can go back to New Orleans.”
Greenwood said many businesses are unaware of the benefits they can receive if they properly apply for business physical disaster loans, which help repair or replace damage to real estate, equipment, machinery and other business supplies.
Businesses affected by the hurricane can also apply for economic injury disaster loans, which assist businesses that lost a large part of their New Orleans-based clientele.
Other facilities in Baton Rouge are working to accommodate the influx of businesses without offices or resources. Network Technology Group in Baton Rouge offers temporary facilities and networks for businesses, and the complex is about 80 percent occupied with New Orleans businesses, said Mark Mathis, NTG’s marketing manager.
Mathis said NTG opened its new disaster recovery facility in February and decided what amenities to offer by researching “pain points” of businesses to find out what they lack, such as computer networks, conference rooms and employee cubicles.
Mathis said most businesses will stay three to six months.
“The mood is intense at the office,” Mathis said. “Businesses are trying to work everything out right now.”
For Omni Bank, the disaster jump-started the bank’s initial plan to expand, though the bank will eventually reopen its New Orleans branch when conditions allow.
“I love my home,” said James Hudson, Omni Bank president and chief executive officer. “We’ll go back to New Orleans. We have a new bank here — a new charter – and board of directors. It’s giving us a great chance to learn Baton Rouge and learn the market better.”
Contact Leslie Ziober at [email protected]