Business View Caribbean | October 2020

69 BUSINESS VIEW CARIBBEAN OCTOBER 2020 THE VENEGAS CONSTRUCT ION CORPORAT ION back to work. We worked entire weekends for several months and we worked through Thanksgiving and the entire holiday season. Despite this, we had no objection from our management staff. We are normally flexible with our employees, an investment that paid off while performing disaster response work; our staff was extraordinarily committed when we needed them most so that Venegas could deliver for our client. “Shortly after the Blue Roof program, we engaged in the STEP (Sheltering and Temporary Essential Power) program, which is a FEMA program utilized in Puerto Rico in response to Hurricane Maria. Our engagement in the STEP Program lasted about five months, and in that time, we performed another $11 million worth of disaster response work. It was fast-paced, but not as aggressive as the Blue Roof program.” The upshot of all of the company’s hurricane disaster recovery work was the awarding of two Advanced Contract Initiative (ACI) contracts to Venegas Construction from the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers. “It’s a five-year, pre-position contract,” Venegas explains. “If there is an emergency roofing mission because of a hurricane, we have already been pre- contracted; the U.S. Army Corps can now activate us immediately after the passing of a storm. Therefore, we have quickly developed into one of the pre-positioned, pre-contracted firms by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers to aid in disaster response, not only in Puerto Rico, but also in 20 states in the continental United States. I believe, this is the first time that a company from Puerto Rico is pre-positioned to provide disaster response in the continental United States. And it’s certainly a very big deal for us.” The company’s disaster response efforts resumed this past January, after a 6.4 magnitude earthquake rumbled through Puerto Rico. “After the earthquake, we received urgent calls from several facilities – such as medical offices and schools – that required minor repairs