C LC LO D G I N G
CAS E ST U DY
American Red Cross
and FEMA
In the aftermath of the devastation of Hurricane Katrina in August
2005, the states of Louisiana, Mississippi and Alabama were affected well beyond any previous disaster in the history of the United
States. The responding authorities – the American Red Cross and
the Federal Emergency Management Agency – found the demands
for services they provide, including safe shelter for evacuees, far
exceeded their resources for any system already in place. Three
weeks later, the catastrophe was compounded by the landfall of
Hurricane Rita in Texas and Louisiana.
Marty Robey/American Red Cross
AMERICAN RED CROSS AND
FEMA LODGING PROGRAMS
■
Housed more than 700,000
evacuees in every state
■
Used more than 11,000
hotels and 290,000 separate
hotel rooms
■
Hotel billings through CLC
totaled more than $350 million
W
hile ARC specializes in assisting people during national disasters
of all types, the organization had never experienced a need for
evacuee housing of this magnitude as hundreds of thousands of
people caught in the storms had no place to turn.
“This situation was so different – we had to redefine and expand
the meaning of shelter,” said Michael Brackney, manager of client
service program development for ARC in Washington, D.C. “With
a disaster of this magnitude, you have to think on a different scale,
and understand all of the problems and issues. You must have a
place to put people.”
Many evacuees had fled to hotels before Katrina hit. In the days
following they began leaving hotels for the shelters, which were
already overflowing. To make matters worse, the evacuation of
New Orleans was not yet complete.
ARC was approached by FEMA and state government officials
looking for a way to temporarily keep evacuees in hotels. Brackney
knew a large-scale, short-term lodging solution had to be found –
and quickly. He looked to a company with which ARC had already
built a dynamic relationship - CLC Lodging. Based in Wichita,
Kansas, CLC provides customized lodging programs to nearly 500
large companies throughout North America.
1.866.362.0739
www.clclodging.com
CLC was experienced in disaster response: The company had previously arranged lodging and processed payment for ARC staff and volunteers working hurricanes Georges in Puerto Rico in 1998, Floyd in
1999 and the four Florida hurricanes in 2004; the September 11,
2001 terrorist attacks in New York, Washington and Pennsylvania;
and numerous fires, floods, tornados and other disasters.
C LC LO D G I N G
“We were pleased that we were
able to respond to ARC’s needs
less than two days after the call
came in. Everything that we’ve
spent the last 25 years building
was already in place. Our customdesigned software system. Our
relationships with the hotels.
Knowledgeable staff. The formula
was just right to make this
program work quickly and
effectively.”
Kyle Rogg
Senior Vice President
of Business Development
CLC Lodging
CAS E ST U DY
“E
ven prior to Katrina, CLC had demonstrated a solid working
relationship and proven capacity to meet our needs effectively,”
Brackney said. After the landfall of Hurricane Katrina on Monday,
August 28, CLC was already hard at work securing lodging for
ARC staff and volunteers. Three days later, just before Labor Day
weekend, Brackney approached CLC to inquire whether the
company could expand its scope of services to include lodging
for hurricane evacuees.
“It was difficult to project the magnitude of the need. We had no
idea how high the numbers were. We just knew there were more
people than there were places to sleep,” Brackney said.
ARC needed a partner that would be responsive to its immediate
needs. A solution-oriented company with the ability to mobilize
immediately. The Red Cross needed CLC Lodging.
Experience
and expertise
Just 44 hours from the time ARC made its request – with continual
input and feedback from ARC – CLC presented a customized,
systems-based program to provide lodging for evacuees.
FEMA was considering its options for temporary housing, and the
agency looked at renting entire properties or relocating evacuees
to large camps on former military bases, Brackney said. They
chose to adopt the Special Transient Accommodations program,
and it was launched immediately.
CLC President Tim Downs said the company’s extensive experience
providing lodging services to companies across the United States,
as well as the Red Cross, allowed it to take the strongest components
of its programs and provide a comprehensive yet clear solution to
ARC’s need.
“We had more questions than answers at the outset,” Downs
said. “But we knew we had the experience, the people, the systems and the will to respond. Our fellow Americans needed us
and we answered the call.”
CLC’s hotel hotline provided immediate assistance
to hoteliers participating in the lodging programs.
CLC had several core strengths that allowed it to administer the
program. Prior to the hurricane the company secured seven million hotel room nights for its corporate clientele annually, so it had
already established relationships with a large number of hotels
across the country.
dignity of our staff and volunteers from having served us
in the past,” Brackney said. “It was crucial to us that our
clients – in this case, the evacuees – be treated with the
same consideration. We felt assured that CLC would
understand and embrace this need.”
Faster service,
lower room rates
“Much of the success of this program was based on trust,”
said Downs. “Obviously this was a new and yet-untested
program developed under less-than-optimum circumstances.
But through many years of serving our clients, we had developed the trust of the hotel community and they were willing
to get on board with this program. Likewise, Red Cross had
a sincere trust in the abilities and credibility of CLC.”
CLC’s billing processes were time-tested, too. Hotels could
submit bills via the Internet or by fax, and CLC would make
sure the right hotels were paid the right amount at the right
time. Additionally, the company had demonstrated in working
with Red Cross during past disasters that it could respond
rapidly to a program’s changing needs and circumstances.
The Special Transient Accommodations program was met
with immediate success. Within the first week, more than
108,000 evacuees had found rooms at thousands of hotels
nationwide.
“The question of ‘Where are my family and I going to sleep
tonight?’ was answered,” Brackney said. “That brought some
sense of relief to have a roof over their heads.”
At the peak of the program in early October, more than
250,000 evacuees were housed through CLC. And there
were more record-breaking numbers.
“Throughout the four largest hurricanes of 2004, ARC provided assistance to about 73,000 families. This disaster was
16 times that size,” Brackney said. “Every two days, we were
assisting the equivalent of the entire 2004 season. Without
CLC, I’m not sure we would have even tried this solution.”
Brackney said it was ARC’s past experience with – and
confidence in – CLC that convinced him to make the call.
“CLC Lodging knew how much we value the safety and
Understanding the needs of the hotels participating in the
program was crucial for its success, as well. For most of the
thousands of hotels participating in the program, it was
important that a company with which they were already
familiar administered the program. They also needed to be
assured they would have the operational support they
needed and would be paid in a timely manner.
Jimmy Thomas is director of global sales at Inter-Continental
Hotels Group, whose multiple brands include Holiday Inn,
Holiday Inn Express and Crowne Plaza. CLC’s effective and
efficient communications to InterContinental’s hotels were an
important part of those hotels participating in the program,
Thomas said.
“Through e-mails and CLC’s web site, being able to get
information from CLC – from how to sign up for the
program to how to get paid for guest stays – was made
very easy. There was also a streamlined, quick payment
process, which made the hotels confident about servicing
guests and getting paid for it,” Thomas said. “And, if we
had questions, it was easy to get in touch with CLC
staff nearly any time of day.”
The ARC Special Transient Accommodations program
was unique in the disaster response industry, both in
concept and in scale. It worked well, said Kyle Rogg,
senior vice president of business development for CLC,
because of the extensive resources his company already
had in place.
“We were pleased that we were able to respond to
ARC’s needs less than two days after the call came in,”
Rogg said. “Everything that we’ve spent the last 25
years building was already in place. Our customdesigned software system. Our relationships with the
hotels. Knowledgeable staff. The formula was just right
to make this program work quickly and effectively.”
The Special Transient Accommodations program assisted hotels and
the American Red Cross in several key areas:
■
Qualifying evacuees: Because evacuees had to be from an
affected area to qualify for the program, hotels were asked to
check a driver’s license or other proof of residence, such as a utility
bill, at check-in. A list of qualifying zip codes was posted on CLC’s
web site, taking the burden off over-extended Red Cross staff
and volunteers or government officials to verify evacuee eligibility.
■
Downloading billing instructions and program information,
and obtaining tax exemption information: Detailed information
was at hoteliers’ fingertips on CLC’s extensive web site.
■
Communicating hotel room availability for additional evacuees:
CLC routinely posted information on its web site regarding
the areas where the most hotel rooms were needed. Hotels
could report availability back to CLC online.
■
Obtaining a secure American Red Cross hotel identification
code: A pre-authorized registration code allowed participating
hotels to securely log onto CLC’s web site any time of day to
view information about their account.
■
Billing via the Internet for payment in 10 days or less:
Utilizing software already in place for CLC’s corporate clients,
hotels participating in the program could bill online daily for
guest stays. CLC’s automated auditing program checked
billings for accuracy and double billings.
■
Billing via fax for hotels that didn’t have the Internet:
Recognizing that not all hotels use the Internet as a part of their
operations, CLC accepted faxed billings to ensure those who
wanted to participate in the program were able.
■
Tracking billings end-to-end: Through its Oracle-based system,
hotels could track the process of payment from the time CLC
received an invoice until a check was cut. A streamlined process
meant CLC averaged payment to the hotels in fewer than
seven days.
■
Obtaining answers to questions via telephone, Internet
and e-mail: To keep communications flowing, CLC maintained
a daily hotel hotline and a 24/7 support center for ARC, sent
e-mails and faxes with new information to the hotels and
maintained Frequently Asked Questions on its web site.
The elements of the lodging program, already a part of CLC’s
successful corporate lodging recipe, allowed the program to operate
with little difficulty.
“We have a bias towards speed and an addiction to making customers
happy,” Rogg said.
“Through e-mails and CLC’s web
site, being able to get information
from CLC – from how to sign
up for the program to how to
get paid for guest stays – was
made very easy. There was also
a streamlined, quick payment
process, which made the hotels
confident about servicing guests
and getting paid for it. And, if we
had questions, it was easy to get
in touch with CLC staff nearly
any time of day.”
Jimmy Thomas
Director of Global Sales
Inter-Continental Hotels Group
Tim Leverett/American Red Cross
“CLC knew its business.
They really cared about
what they were doing and
it showed. Someone was
always there to answer
the call, even at 2 a.m.”
Michael Brackney
Manager of Client Service
Program Development
American Red Cross
in Washington, D.C.
“We had more questions
than answers at the
outset. But we knew we
had the experience, the
people, the systems
and the will to respond.
Our fellow Americans
needed us and we
answered the call.”
Tim Downs
President
CLC Lodging
KEY CLC STRENGTHS:
■
Experience developing custom
lodging solutions
■
Proprietary systems processing
millions of transactions from
thousands of hotels
■
Rapid application development
■
Respect within the hotel industry
■
Seasoned negotiators able to
rapidly add hotel capacity
■
Integrated, 24x7 communications
capability
CLC also had the ability to add new hotels to the program
rapidly, meeting a crucial need in many areas of the country
where hotel rooms were desperately needed. And CLC’s
negotiated room hotel rates – individually established with
hotels by CLC’s pool of negotiators – meant rates during
the lodging program have averaged one-third lower than the
average U.S. room rate.
“CLC knew its business. They really cared about what they
were doing and it showed,” Brackney said. “Someone was
always there to answer the call, even at 2 a.m. in the morning.”
Brackney said his organization found an unexpected alliance
with CLC through the Special Transient Accommodations
Program.
“During disasters, we are used to our staff and volunteers
making sacrifices of long hours, seven days a week,”
Brackney said. “We are not used to our partners making
sacrifices. I know there were people at CLC who didn’t
see their families for days, and who worked holidays and
weekends to ensure the program’s success.”
The transition from
ARC to FEMA
Historically, the role of ARC has been to manage disasters
during the crisis phase, providing immediate relief to those
affected by an event. The ARC Special Transient
Accommodations program was funded through FEMA,
which had remained in the background at the onset of the
program, but decided to assume direct oversight of the
program beginning October 25, 2005. At that time, ARC’s
program transitioned to the FEMA Short-Term Lodging
Program. CLC, already on the government’s Federal
Supply Schedule, was issued a task order from FEMA to
continue administering the lodging program.
“For the federal government to take on the program, during
this nation’s greatest natural disaster, speaks volumes for
CLC’s ability to deliver,” Brackney said.
The ARC Special Transient Accommodations and FEMA
Short-Term Lodging programs housed more than 700,000
evacuees in every state, involving more than 11,000 hotels
and 290,000 separate hotel rooms. Hotel billings through
CLC totaled more than $350 million.
While the majority of evacuees have found more
permanent housing options over the past several months, the
Short-Term Lodging program remains in place as FEMA
works to secure longer-term housing for the thousands of
evacuees still living in hotels. CLC remains committed to providing the highest level of service to its client, FEMA, and to
the hotel community.
‘An intriguing outfit’
The ARC and FEMA lodging programs have been observed
by media nationwide, ranging from the New York Times to the
Washington Post to USA Today. Boston Globe editorial
writer Thomas Oliphant unexpectedly called out CLC’s performance in a September 22, 2005 column that said:
“I am intrigued by a small outfit out of Wichita, Corporate
Lodging Consultants. In addition to its expertise in booking
hotel rooms for clients, it has long worked to help house
Red Cross first responders during disasters.
“But in the face of an unprecedented need over Labor Day,
it rewrote its software and geared up to book evacuees,
responding to the Red Cross’ inspired idea that hotels
could qualify victims quicker than it could. The result, last I
checked, was that some 70,000 families have been placed
in rooms not just in the region but from Vermont to Hawaii
as well, based simply on proof they come from a qualifying
zip code.”
About CLC
CLC Lodging provides customized
lodging programs
to nearly 500 large
companies
throughout North
America. Through its sophisticated rules-based payment
processing technology and the purchasing leverage of
9 million rooms at more than 10,000 hotels, CLC delivers
both unmatched savings and comprehensive solutions
that include rate negotiation, electronic auditing, consolidated billing and flexible reporting services. If travel is a
critical component of your business, CLC can reduce
the cost of your lodging program, with less effort and
increased traveler satisfaction.
CLC Lodging, Wichita, KS
1.866.362.0739 ■ www.clclodging.com