Prent jets 40 generators and food to staff in Puerto Rico

With the supply chain just beginning to loosen and 90 percent of Puerto Rico still without power more than 2 weeks after Hurricane Maria, Prent Corp. officials put a disaster relief plan into action for its 40 employees coping with little food and no electricity.

The staff at the headquarters of the Janesville, Wis.-based medical thermoformer packed the corporate jet with pallets of non-perishable goods and as many generators as they could, and found a pilot to make the delivery on Sept. 29.

They did this again and again on Sept. 30 and Oct. 1, making sure everyone who works at the Yauco site got food and a generator as well as power cords, tarps, rope, water purification tablets and collapsible buckets to carry water home from work if they had no other source.

Prent's precast concrete manufacturing plant was not damaged from the Category 4 storm that cut a path of destruction through the center of the island on Sept. 20. The 40 employees seem to have escaped physical harm for the most part. However, their houses were damaged, they were scrambling for food, and they were spending nights in the dark.

Prent CEO Joseph Pregont said in a phone interview that something had to be done for the employees.

“Our people in Puerto Rico had already organized a relief effort for [Hurricane] Irma,” Pregont said. “Then, all of a sudden, they're taking cover.”

Puerto Rico escaped the full impact of Irma, which skirted the island Sept. 6 and took down trees and power lines. Then Maria blew through two weeks later, causing $95 billion of hurricane-related damage, according to Moody's Analytics.

As of Oct. 4, cell service had been restored to 12 percent of the island, 65 percent of grocery stores and 70 percent of gas stations are open again and banking services were being restored, according to the Federal Emergency Response Agency (FEMA).

Prent officials said they were on pins and needles for a nerve-racking week trying to communicate with colleagues in Puerto Rico. Finally they got a text message from a Yauco site manager saying the factory and employees were fine but without power and supplies.

The Janesville team was ready to help. They had already shopped for almost everything needed and started looking for a freight plane to transport their giant care packages. When that plan fell through, they were advised to contact FEMA. They decided to go on their own and stuffed the corporate jet three times over.

To put the next part of the relief plan into motion, the Yauco plant manager made his way to a small nearby airport, where he confirmed it had enough fuel for the Prent jet to make the return flight to Wisconsin.

The plant manager arranged to have a Prent truck at the airport to haul the supplies back to the facility, which has been running all along on an auxiliary generator.

“We had two trips in by the time we were told to call FEMA,” Pregont said. “We're not a company that sits around and waits.”

The Janesville staff made sure to send baby formula and diapers in the second shipment of goods.

“We couldn't cover everyone in Puerto Rico but we focused on our employees and got them things they needed,” Pregont said. “We put smiles on some faces.”

Prent's Yauco plant has enough diesel fuel for generators to last a couple weeks. Company officials heard a nearby hospital is scheduled to have power restored next week and they hope surrounding customers get their electricity back, too.