ORC was contracted to provide relocation assistance services for the Southwest Louisiana (SOWELA) Technical Community College to construct an 85-95,000 square foot training facility on the 13-acre parcel of land occupied by the mobile home park. This was to address the urgent needs of skilled workforce for the southwest Louisiana region that was impacted by Hurricanes Gustav and Ike. Five major industries announced plans for locating and/or expanding in the southwest Louisiana region, and the total investment of these industries ranged from $35 to $40 billion. However, in the post-hurricane environment, there is an insufficiency in the skilled workforce needed to fill the estimated 50,000 – 70,000 jobs that will be created by these expansions.

• ORC provided comprehensive project management and relocation advisory services under the Uniform Act and HUD Guidelines. Since most of the mobile homes were 20+ years old, relocating the Chennault Mobile Village mobile homes and tenants posed a significant challenge. Agents were limited in replacement mobile home park options for tenants, and the mobile homes required numerous repairs after the moves.

ORC’s scope of services included coordinating: Temporary tenant hotel stays during the mobile homes’ moves; Vendor negotiation; Mobile home set up and repair; Occupant permanent relocation, a process that required extensive advisory assistance.