Harbor Homes PermaShelter to Begin Exporting Disaster Housing From Haiti

Online, March 8, 2011 (Newswire.com) - Standing among a throng of Haitian laborers and supervisors and amidst bundle upon bundle of lumber, plywood, and metal studs, Matt Williams, Director of Marketing and Government Affairs for PermaShelter S.A. recently observed that, "Our company has made a tremendous investment in establishing a manufacturing operation in Haiti. It is really unfortunate that contracts for transitional housing are not being let at a rapid enough pace to substantially alleviate the ongoing suffering of Haiti's displaced population in wake of last year's earthquake. Because of this we have been compelled to seek creative ways to keep our factory running and our workers employed. We feel a special obligation to our Haitian workforce, and we are doing everything that we can to ensure that we don't experience any discontinuity in operations."

Recent catastrophic flooding in Chile, Brazil, Colombia, and Venezuela have provided just such an opportunity. With hundreds of thousands of internally displaced persons in need of housing, a number of parties have contacted PermaShelter, a subsidiary of Harbor Homes, LLC and one of the leading suppliers of disaster housing to the U.S. Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) and the U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS).

"It's really quite simple," says Lucas Stewart, owner and CEO of PermaShelter S.A. "We have established a substantial manufacturing operation Haiti where there is a significant need for jobs and where we can readily manufacture transitional shelters and other disaster relief housing structures for export to all points in the Caribbean and Central America. It is unfortunate that we must look to other markets while there remains so much unsatisfied need in Haiti. We are ready, willing, and able to build houses for use here in Haiti-and we continue to actively seek out such opportunities. At the end of the day, though, we have a responsibility to our Haitian workforce to keep them working. If that means that we must look outside of the country for the time being, than that's what we'll do. It's a triple bottom line, really. We build homes in Haiti when we have the opportunity to do so. This employs local workers and helps them to improve their circumstances. It also allows us and our workforce to their own circumstances while also providing much needed housing throughout the rest of the region. It's a win-win-win."

PermaShelter expects to build some 5,000+ transitional shelters (t-shelters) this year. The South Georgia company plans to export three to four times that number to other points in the Caribbean and Central and South America.

"Our factory at Terminal Abraham in Carrefour is fully operational, and we invite any organizations in Haiti that would like to build more homes to come and see the good work that we are doing," said Williams. "There are precious few manufacturing facilities in Haiti which are capable of producing safe, quality, and affordable transitional shelters and permanent homes. We are intent on helping the Haitian people any way that we can. That is our mission."

The Harbor Homes family of companies includes PermaShelter, S.A., Intrepid Structures, and Outlast Emergency Products. Harbor Homes manufacturers, delivers, and assembles a wide range of disaster relief housing, transitional shelters, permanent homes, field support structures, and other non-food item (NFI) relief supplies throughout the Caribbean, Central America, Africa, and Southeast Asia. Harbor Homes is also the exclusive distributor of the Concrete MD concrete mixer in Haiti.

More information can be found online at http://www.harborhomesllc.com.