Vogárs coordinated for Louis Berger the installation of temporary microgrids for remote communities around the Island affected by Hurricane María.  This included locations scouting, installation and maintenance.

 

Louis Berger, based in New Jersey, USA, is a top international engineering and development firm.  Shortly after Hurricane Maria, they were awarded with the mission to provide energy to the Island through generators and microgrids, among other tasks. 

They hired Vogars to provide the following services to support their integration to the Island: 

- Translator and interpreter.  We translated documents and help them to communicate with non-English speakers in visits and meetings.

- Identify alternatives to open a regional corporate office.  After the hurricane, most spaces were affected in different degrees and many of them had mold.  However, after a thorough evaluation one option was selected and rented in Miramar.

- Manage their Giveback program.  Part of Louis Berger's corporate philosophy is to support the communities where they do business.  In Puerto Rico, they implemented their Giveback Program, where they provided energy to remote disadvantaged communities, with a temporary microgrid that included a mobile hybrid solar generator.  This initiative was supported by a public relations campaign that included community events and media coverage.

The first step was to identify communities that met a specific criteria, like remote access, centralized common facilities, nearby buildings that could be interconnected, large amount of people benefitted, etc.

The first community was Mameyes, in Utuado.  We provided the Mobile Hybrid  Solar Generator, called Mojave III, to energize their indoor sports facility for their Christmas event.  The event included music, food and gift distribution by a former Governor.  It was attended by over 500 residents.

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Few months later, we selected and installed a combined microgrid at Perla de Gran Precio, a buildings complex at the mountainous south border of Bayamón, that included shelters for children, females, and a nearby elders' home. To inaugurate the installation, we organized a media event (see Public Relations section) that included a tour of the project, a presentation by Louis Berger President and other executives, speeches by the administrators of the project, municipal government officials, and the Secretary of the Governor, William Villafañes.   The event was open to the community and  included live music, food and a theatrical production. (Click here for details at Events section)

The event had ample islandwide media coverage. (Click here for details at Public Relations section)  

The microgrid stayed at Perla de Gran Precio for almost two years.  In addition to interconnecting four large buildings, it included solar light towers and posts for the main entrances, solar water heaters and wall lamps.  Vogárs was in charge of the logistics and coordination of the installation, maintenance and decommission of the grid.

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When the power was restored for Perla de Gran Precio, we moved the microgrid to another location: Casa del Amparo nursing home at Humacao.  We repeated the same process, coordinated an inauguration event, and provided the maintenance of the installation. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Finally we were looking for a place of high visibility to display the solar light towers used in the projects.  We negotiated with the San Juan Capitol Building to deploy our solar light towers on their facilities. 

Vogars was in charge of the technical service, storage, maintenance and logistics of the equipment until everything was decommissioned back to the Mainland.

 

This is an example of project management providing services not related to communications, but with strategies and execution in logistics and administration, combined with other disciplines like marketing and public relations. 

We can apply the same principles to any project, starting with a thorough understanding of the market conditions and the product, establishing objectives, considering possible scenarios, and developing  a well assessed strategy.