In the aftermath of a hurricane disaster, Aeroflow put its employees and community first

Casey Hite, CEO and founder of medical equipment provider Aeroflow Health, knew something was wrong when their headquarters in Asheville, North Carolina experienced a power blip on Sept. 28. But it wasn't until he received the call that one of his employees' houses had been washed away that he fully understood the severity of the situation. 

"We immediately started outreach to every employee in our directory, whether that was through text, email or phone calls — we even had folks riding ATVs from their homes to check on another employee," Hite says. "Our first priority was accounting for all of our employees to make sure that they were safe."   

After making landfall in Florida as a category 4 storm, Hurricane Helene tracked north, where it then dumped 30 inches of rain in parts of North Carolina, including Asheville. The heavy and sudden onslaught of rain combined with a previous rainfall earlier in the week and the general topography of the area led to deadly flash flooding that claimed the lives of 95 people, destroyed hundreds of homes and left thousands without power or water. 

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Within his own ranks, 600 of Hite's employees were indefinitely displaced, six of which lost their homes entirely. Many of the rest, including Hite and his family, have been living in areas experiencing extreme outages and no access to clean potable water. Still, Hite felt as though he had a responsibility both as an employer and as a leader to his workers and his community. 

"One of the first things we did was put together a fund which started at $250,000 and has since grown to over $400,000," he says. "We used that money to secure and cover hotel rooms for those employees that had nowhere else to go." 

In addition, Hite and members of his team set up a pantry in the corporate office equipped with food and other essential supplies, including hygiene products and diapers and formula for those with young children. Aeroflow parking lots and buildings were offered to local fire departments and FEMA to operate out of. The company also donated money to other organizations in need and volunteered in some of their aid efforts. 

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Most importantly, perhaps, were some of the decisions Hite made internally. For example, he allowed employees to be paid regularly, whether or not they were able to make it into work and regardless of their accrued PTO amount. He also allowed employees to take cash advances on their paychecks in order to pay for food and gas. 

"Whatever we can do, we're doing it," Hite says. "We did right by our people and worried about the legal ramifications later."

And while prioritizing people has always been a core component of Aeroflow's business, Hite has actually been on the receiving end of his company's care and generosity. After his brother unexpectedly passed away 10 years ago, Hite had to step down from some of his responsibilities to spend time with family. During that time, the members of his team and his employees stepped up and took care of operations until he returned, an experience he says heavily influenced the way he responded to the current crisis. 

"By giving people responsibility, trusting people and really putting faith in people, the better a company does," Hite says. "What we've learned is that the more we treat people like family and the more we do for our employees, the more they do for the organization. It seems so simple because it is." 

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That ideology doesn't come without its own fair share of work in times of need, however. In Aeroflow's case, there is still much to do while the communities in western North Carolina get back on their feet. To continue to support his workforce, Hite and his team are working on a few short-term and long-term strategies, including securing more permanent housing options for employees as well as establishing a childcare facility on site and investing in potential educators while schools are out.  

Hite recognizes that not every company has the resources that Aeroflow did to support their workforce, but it shouldn't stop other business owners from being as proactive as they can, especially since moments of crisis are inevitable. He suggests reserving cash on balance sheets and building a detailed disaster relief policy so everyone is on the same page. 

"The only way that you get loyalty and trust from your staff is if you put your loyalty and trust in them," Hite says. "That's what worked for us and I would do it again and again."