Hurricane Katrina Coverage - Oliver Van Horn Co., New Orleans

-- Industrial Distribution, 9/9/2005

Lee Eagan, chairman and CEO of Oliver Van Horn Co., considers himself fortunate. Though his company’s New Orleans headquarters “is a complete loss,” his family and most of his employees are safe, and are now dealing with the tragic effects of Hurricane Katrina, one step at a time.

 “There are so many issues—emotional, business, personal—you don’t know which to tackle next,” Eagan said in a Sept. 7 interview from his company’s Jackson, Miss., branch. “We’re dealing with one problem at a time.”

Eagan relocated to Jackson from New Orleans before the storm hit, and managed to disperse all but two local employees to the company’s other locations across Louisiana, Mississippi and Alabama. As of Sept. 8, those two employees were still missing.

One of the biggest business problems Eagan is facing now is the loss of the New Orleans territory itself, which represented 30 percent of Oliver Van Horn Co.’s business.

For now, the firm has moved its headquarters to the Jackson facility, and its other branches are up and running.

Click here to read the full report on the initial effects of Hurricane Katrina.