You are here

Milnor Weathers Hurricane Gustav with Minimal Interruptions

KENNER, La. — Hurricane Gustav may have prompted evacuations along the Gulf Coast and tested New Orleans’ newly rebuilt levees, but Pellerin Milnor Corp., headquartered in Kenner, has weathered the storm with only minimal interruptions, company spokespeople say. Kenner is located on the west side of New Orleans’ metropolitan area in Jefferson Parish.
“To quote our mayor, Kenner ‘fared very well,’” says Stephanie Russell, advertising manager for Milnor. “I believe the majority of our employees evacuated, so we’re just waiting for our parish officials to give us the go-ahead to re-enter.”
Milnor has a business continuity plan in place that includes evacuating key personnel and equipment to safer locations, allowing the company to continue serving customers in case the plant is inaccessible.
“When our customers and distributors call our regular line, they are redirected to our call center in Shreveport, La.,” says Russell. “We can take parts orders and ship from a warehouse we’ve stocked in Dallas. Technical service personnel are also manning the call center.”
The parish ordered a mandatory evacuation effective noon Sunday, but Milnor’s plant in Kenner sustained no damage and has power, the company reports.
“Key plant personnel have special passes to get through roadblocks,” Russell says. “We are working on getting them back to the plant Thursday to start things up for the rest of our employees to return to work Friday. Saturday will be a full workday.
“We have planned diligently to ensure interruptions such as Gustav do not impact our customers. We work hard to make and support the best laundry equipment for our customers, and we are all anxious and excited to return to work. If we are able to return Friday, by Monday we will have only missed two days of production and may work another Saturday to make up that time.”
 

Have a question or comment? E-mail our editor Matt Poe at [email protected].