Haiti Earthquake Hits U.S. Businesses

The devastating earthquake in Haiti hits home for St. Louis businessman Frantz Sanon.

Sanon, CEO of Advance Building Associates in Clayton, Missouri, is trying to reach relatives in his native country to find out if they're safe. In the meantime, he's organizing relief efforts among St. Louis' Haitian community.

“Looking at these children and adults struggling for help, the only thing I can think of is: What can I do to help?” he says.

Sanon also has business interests in the small Caribbean country. He's the construction manager and architect for a planned $240 million, 300-bed hospital complex in Port-au-Prince. Groundbreaking is scheduled for March, but the disaster probably delays the project.

Businesses across America, from Advance Building Associates to cruise line Royal Caribbean International to Wal-Mart Stores Inc. are responding to the worst earthquake to hit Haiti in two centuries.

Royal Caribbean is one of the largest investors in Haiti, company president and CEO Adam Goldstein says on his blog.

In fact, the executive says he was scheduled to meet with Haiiti Prime Minister Jean-Max Bellerive in New York Wednesday night to talk about how to build Haiti’s economy and promote more foreign investment.

Royal Caribbean has a stop on the coast of the island, about 100 miles north of the capital of Port-au-Prince. The company says its cruise lines weren't damaged, and it is offering its ships to help with the relief effort.

"As one of the leading investors in Haiti through our private destination at (the port of ) Labadee, we have nearly 30 years of involvement in the country and many, many relationships," Goldstein says.

Jacksonville, Florida-based Crowley Maritime Corp. and Sea Star Lines LLC will ship rebuilding supplies and equipment, company officials say.

Crowley suspended its two weekly shipping services to Haiti while it determines the extent of damage the Port-au-Prince’s port sustained, spokeswoman Jennifer Kimble says. The company is coordinating with U.S. agencies to ship supplies to aid the country's recovery.

“We are hearing Port-Au-Prince is inoperable, and we don’t know for how long,” Kimble says.

Flights between Haiti and airports in Miami and Fort Lauderdale were canceled by American Airlines, Insel Air, and Spirit Airlines Wednesday.

Construction-equipment maker Caterpillar Inc. says its dealers in Haiti and the Dominican Republic are involved in recovery and rescue efforts. The company also is in touch with international aid organizations like Red Cross, spokeswoman Bridget Young says.

Wal-Mart, which uses suppliers from Haiti, is sending $100,000 worth of food kits and giving $500,000 to Red Cross, spokesman Kevin Gardner says. The retailer has no stores or company-owned operations there.

"We're very concerned about conditions in Haiti after the earthquake, and our thoughts are with everyone who has been impacted by the devastation," he says.

Cargill Inc. also is sending food, 50,000 meals over the next few weeks, and is donating $50,000 to relief organizations.

Medical professionals are organizing as well. National Nurses United, the nation's largest union of registered nurses is recruiting its members to volunteer in Haiti. More than 300 already contacted the union, spokesman Chuck Idelson says.

Communication with the country remains a challenge, however.

Tim Randolph, president of Randolph World Ministries Inc. in downstate Illinois, is trying to contact his seven medical clinics in and around Port-au-Prince to account for his 300 workers.

“I’m thinking about my ministry partners and all the devastation this country has endured the past two years with the hurricane, earthquake, and flooding,” he says. “I don’t know how much one country can take.”

In Miami, Gislaine Bastien sat in her business, the Haitian Art Factory, wondering if her artists were alive. She travels to Port-au-Prince at least three times a year, buying art from struggling artists in a country where work is scarce.

She's done this for 12 years, but she now wonders if she’ll ever see them again.

“We think more are dead right now, for sure,” Bastien says. “Minute by minute, I’m becoming more anxious.”

Kelsey Volkmann of the St. Louis Business Journal, Mark Szakonyi of the Jacksonville Business Journal, Chris Rauber of the San Francisco Business Times, and the staff of the South Florida Business Journal contributed to this report.

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