Those companies unable to assist in the on-site recovery efforts following the September 11 terrorist attacks in New York and Washington, D.C., made large financial contributions to the cause.
Associated Builders and Contractors (ABC), Washington, D.C., responded by establishing a disaster relief fund to support families of the victims.
“Our hearts go out to the families and victims of this tragedy in New York City, Washington, D.C., and Pennsylvania,” said Kirk Pickerel, ABC president and CEO. “We have heeded the call of President Bush and have established this fund to help families of victims of these terrorist attacks.”
ABC's headquarters has donated $5,000 to the fund and has solicited contributions from the association's 23,000 members through its Web site and its electronic newsletter, Newsline. Staff members at the national office have also made additional contributions.
In addition, the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers recently contacted the organization and may request cleanup assistance. ABC has informed the Army Corps it is ready to assist. A Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) Project Impact partner, ABC has also offered assistance to FEMA Director Joe Allbaugh and pledged “unconditional assistance to the federal government to aid in any way possible.”
On the recovery front, ABC member-firm Hensel-Phelps Construction Co., Chantilly, Va., has been awarded the contract to rebuild the portion of the Pentagon damaged in the attacks. The work, which will include renovations of some four million square feet of building space over 11 years, could be valued at $758 million.
Heinrich V. Pierer, president and CEO of Siemens AG, Munich, Germany, announced after the attacks the company had pledged $2 million to support emergency assistance agencies in New York and Washington through the Siemens Caring Hands Foundation. In addition, the company will match contributions from its 460,000 employees.
In a correspondence to all staff members, Pierer explained the money from the Foundation will be given to The September 11th Fund, a nonprofit organization set up to ensure financial resources are deployed effectively to emergency assistance and health and human services agencies in New York and Washington. The organization is jointly administered by The United Way and The New York Community Trust.
Closer to home, ABB Inc., the U.S. arm of global technology company ABB, based in Norwalk, Conn., pledged $100,000 to the American Red Cross Disaster Relief Fund. The company also plans to contribute two dollars for each additional dollar in employee contributions.
“We are very fortunate that no ABB employees were directly injured in these horrible attacks,” said Donald P. Aiken, president of ABB Inc. “But that makes it all the more important that we do what we can to help rebuild in the aftermath of this tragedy.”
