Delivering Progress: Resiliency and Disaster Recovery Support from Hill International, Inc.

Hill International offers our clients the experience and understanding to support crucial resiliency and recovery assignments and keep work progressing as planned. We know first-hand the unique nature of these projects and will drive progress throughout the process to help agencies, homeowners, and other stakeholders achieve their recovery and resiliency goals. Our approach to these critical undertakings results in stronger communities and projects delivered correctly and cost-effectively.

Demonstrated Experience Drives Results

Urgency, expertise, compassion, and sustainability are the hallmarks of Hill’s response to disasters. We have the resources, expertise, and relevant disaster recovery management record to respond rapidly and effectively to any situation. We have proven systems in place that are compliant with Federal and most state requirements, including New York, Texas, and Florida and throughout the Caribbean, so that our clients can rely on us as a sole source option for program and construction management services.

Our support can help you drive progress and return your community to normalcy by tracking funding requirements, verifying contractors and other suppliers and vendors adhere to all applicable regulations, and allocating funds and resources in most equitable and efficient manner possible. We deliver these services by leveraging the first-hand recovery expertise and experience of our teams and implementing tailored information managements systems that can provide decision makers with high-level “snapshots” of program data as well as more granular information. This combination helps alleviate the increasing lag in recovery assignments, as agencies and other owners unaccustomed to managing the large-scale efforts needed in resiliency and recovery work struggle to integrate massive funding streams and comply with a myriad of reporting and spending requirements, as shown to the right.

Hill’s staff and support team have provided critical support to FEMA, HUD, and other Federal Agencies after natural disasters such as Superstorm Sandy, Hurricane Irene, Hurricane Katrina, Hurricane Ike, Tropical Storm Allison, Hurricane Maria, Hurricane Irma, the September 11, 2001 attacks at the World Trade Center in New York, earthquake repairs at the Washington Monument in Washington, DC, and tornados in Brooklyn and Queens, among others.

Management Strategy, Technical Approach, and Methodology

Resiliency and disaster recovery (RDR) programs and projects are unlike any other construction assignment. Community pressure to return to normalcy and reestablish schools, hospitals, and other basic services, along with population displacement, funding constraints, and a myriad of other factors, can compound the typical technical and managerial challenges of RDR programs and projects.

However, Hill is also unlike any other large PM/CM firm. First, we are exclusively a program, project and construction management firm, meaning we do not offer design or construction service to minimize conflicts and distractions. This independence means our clients can enjoy increased confidence in our recommendations and advice. We are also a multi-national firm, with global experience expertise. This depth and breadth of RDR work enables us to bring the best practices and lessons learned from around the world to our clients, developing custom solutions to your specific program and project needs based on decades of success. Finally, we are one of the largest PM/CM firms in the world, with approximately 3,000 professionals with over 500 engineers on staff. Our size allows us to fill positions with qualified, capable resources quickly and cost-effectively.

The Hill RDR Advantage

These advantages help us to address the factors that make RDR programs and projects unique. Whether for recovery efforts in the wake of a disaster or to manage programs to build more resilient infrastructure systems, Hill applies the right tools, management systems, processes, and techniques to keep work progressing and to deliver projects that meet technical requirements on time and within budget.

To address these challenges, Hill offers professionals experienced in helping communities recover according to plan. Hill’s professionals have helped residents, municipalities, transit agencies, hospitals, universities, school districts, and other key community stakeholders recover and rebuild from some of the most devastating natural disasters and other events like 9/11 in recent U.S. history.

We make certain that objectives, expectations, and aspirations for the work are clearly defined and captured in contract documents and enforced throughout the entire program or project process. This includes verifying work meets all applicable Federal funding and reporting requirements, is environmentally sustainable, and is capable of withstanding future events.

Because our program, project and construction managers are technical professionals with design, construction, and sector-specific backgrounds (transit, roads and highways, housing, healthcare, power, etc.), they can speak with equal command and clarity to designers, owners, public officials, contractors, and suppliers, assisting to interpret and clarify areas of concern where they may exist. Their ability to understand the big picture complements their ability in paying attention to the minute details that inevitably guide the results of large, complex construction projects. The major elements of our RDR approach include:

• Committed to multi-stakeholder management to successfully deliver projects that are important to the impacted community, its businesses, and its citizens.
• Identifying, documenting, and delivering on community goals and objectives for the recovery, including sustainability, social responsibility, and local/small business participation.
• Clear definition of functional responsibilities within the management team to enhance communication among all project participants via a Program or Project Management Plan (PMP).
• Implementation of processes, systems, and tools to manage the program or project and track funding streams and compliance with all applicable standards federal, state, and local requirements.
• Using data driven analytics to deliver timely, intelligent, and actionable real-time data and information supported by field presence to drive progress and meet schedule and budget objectives.

The Hill approach to RDR assignments delivers accountability and transparency to our clients and results to the communities impacted by disasters.

Andy Robinson has more than 30 years of experience in strategic consulting, program management, and solutions development. Andy specializes in leading resiliency and disaster recovery assignments and served in leadership roles for the Road Home Program following Hurricane Katrina, the New Jersey Housing Program following Superstorm Sandy, and the U.S. Virgin Islands STEP program following Hurricanes Irma and Maria.