Within days of the terrorist attacks on September 11, manufacturers and dealers from throughout the electrical industry were on hand at the World Trade Center and the Pentagon, contributing to the rescue and recovery efforts. Among those at Ground Zero in New York were H.O. Penn Machinery, a New York-based Caterpillar dealer, and Fluke Networks, Everett, Wash.
As of September 14, H.O. Penn Machinery had 40 technicians on site, 65 on standby, and 14 people on logistical support. Two other dealers, Foley (New Jersey) and Southworth-Milton (Massachusetts), assisted with recovery efforts, sending in 10 crews of technicians to help H.O. Penn. Technicians worked through the night to install operating generator sets and support engines and machines.
Through H.O. Penn, Caterpillar, headquartered in Peoria, Ill., is supplying the vast majority of standby power to New York City's financial, insurance, and banking districts as well as providing Con Edison with temporary power and technical assistance to stabilize the power grid in lower Manhattan. The company also donated three 30kW generator sets to the American Red Cross for food kitchens set up for relief workers.
First on site with the NYPD at the disaster scene, H.O. Penn set up 50 light towers and 12 small generator sets on the first night of the tragedy.
In response to the extensive need for demolition attachments such as shears, grapples, multi-processors, and multipurpose buckets, Caterpillar has supplied large numbers of work tools. Two truckloads of tools left Wamego, Kan., the week of the disaster, with two to three additional trucks leaving the following week.
Caterpillar wasn't the only manufacturer helping out in New York. Fluke Networks, part of the Danaher family of companies, recently initiated the Emergency Relief Program aimed at helping restore communications service to companies and organizations affected by the attacks. This included offering loaner equipment, support, and on-site technical assistance to IT and telecom managers.
“Network communications, whether it is e-mail or some other form of data communications, is the backbone of any organization,” says Chris Odell, president of Fluke Networks. “And we of course realize that many organizations have suffered substantial network service disruption owing to the tragic events of [Sept. 11].”