[StBernard] Oklahoma Business Leaders Aim to Help

[Westley Annis]

Remembering the help Louisiana gave Oklahoma City after its 1995 terrorist
bombing, a delegation of Oklahoma business and public sector gropups from
Oklahoma visited this week, wanting to reciprocate by helping in the
recovery from hurricanes Katrina and Rita. 
 
The four, who visited Chalmette on Thursday and Friday after going to Baton
Rouge and New Orleans, said they have the goal of starting a model program
for future disasters in which money can be raised to help rebuild small
businesses and to loan or give equipment for use by local governments. 
 
The group included Carl Reherman, Oklahoma Municipal League chairman and
mayor of Chandler, Okla.; Danny George, executive director of the Municipal
League; Henry Primeaux, a New Orleans native who graduated Holy Cross and
now owns a car dealership and the Tulsa Talons football team in the Arena
Football League; and Richard Rush, president and CEO of the State Chamber of
Oklahoma. 
 
They said helping small businesses regroup in St. Bernard Parish, perhaps
through grants of more than $5,000, might be possible, as well as help with
equipment for parish government. They met in Chalmette with Larry
Ingargiola, head of Homeland Security and the Office of Emergency
Preparedness for St. Bernard Parish, and Charles Ponstein, who is assisting
in business recovery in the parish. 
 
"We experienced disaster on a much lesser scale in 1995'' when the Murrah
federal building in Oklahoma City was blown up by terrorist Timothy McVeigh,
who was later caught and executed and others were jailed, said Rush. Some
350 businesses were affected and through relief efforts including help from
117 Louisiana businesses, 92 were able to re-open, he said. 
 
What is evolving, Rush said, is a model program for future disasters in
order to help other businesses and government entities, he said. "We can't
just rely on government. We've got to help ourselves.'' 
 
Trucks, front end loaders and other items not needed by governments in other
states might be able to give or loan such equipment to ones affected by
disasters, Rush said. 
 
The four said they are part of what is called Operation Scissor-Tail, after
the state bird of Oklahoma, which would be a pairing of the private sector
of Oklahoma, represented by the State Chamber, and the public sector,
represented by the Oklahoma Municipal League, to help in Louisiana's
hurricane recovery. 
 
"Our goal is to assess the impacted areas and assist the Louisiana
Association of Business & Industry in their efforts to generate financial
resources in their Business Relief Fund, which is similar to the fund set up
by the State Chamber in Oklahoma after the Murrah bombing in 1995.'' 
 
New Orleans native Primeaux has established sales of special posters,
bracelets and T-shirts on a website, www.bigeasyrising.org where proceeds
are dedicated to the Louisiana recovery ."I want to give it to small
businessmen'' in the New Orleans area, and St. Bernard would be a good place
to have an impact, Primeaux said. "You could have a lot more bang for the
buck in St. Bernard,'' he said. 
 
The only stipulation for a business accepting a grant would be to
reciprocate after they are back on their feet and make a donation to keep
the fund going, Primeaux said. 
 
While LABI will administer one part of choosing businesses for grants, the
Oklahoma group will retain control over selecting other businesses through
money they are raising, Rush said. 

 
###