On the afternoon of Friday, May 16, a mile-wide EF3 tornado tore through St. Louis, killing five people and causing an estimated $1.6 billion in damages.

As soon as the storm passed, the question for EquipmentShare team members — from the local branches in St. Louis to corporate headquarters 125 miles west in Columbia, Missouri — wasn’t whether they would help but rather how they could do the most good. 

In just a few days, EquipmentShare had strategized with key community figures and government officials and was on the scene donating supplies, clearing the streets and feeding the hungry. 

“This response showed that our commitment to help isn’t just about good intentions — it’s backed by the resources, the strength and the experience to make a real difference,” said Amy Susán, EquipmentShare’s ambassador and director of PR & Communications. “We know how to mobilize. This storm happened in our own backyard of our hometown, but no matter where disaster strikes, our desire — and our ability — to respond remains the same.”

EquipmentShare^Ⓡ is a rapidly growing national leader in tech-powered equipment rentals, sales and service for the construction industry. It’s in the business of helping contractors build better communities. But when disasters strike, business takes a backseat to helping those communities recover.

Sharing necessities

When EquipmentShare activates its disaster response team, a person from the affected area is chosen to serve as the storm lead. Justin Wann, a district sales manager for Advanced Solutions™, was the perfect choice.

“We look for someone with deep community ties and the ability to mobilize quickly,” said Susán. “Justin was the perfect fit — not only does he know the region, but his background in social work gave him the empathy and instincts to lead with heart. He told me it all kicked right back in.”

Wann had been through a tornado — his hometown of De Soto, Missouri, was hit in 2003 — so he could empathize with what the affected people of St. Louis were feeling.

“I remember how long it took for life to get back to normal, and when I was driving around these streets and seeing these families — their roof is half-missing, their yard is destroyed, there’s debris in the streets — the thing that stood out to me is that it’s going to take a while for these families to get back to a normal life. It could take years” Wann said. “Times are already tough for a lot of these people, so you throw something like this on top of it, it will impact their lives for a long time to come.”

Wann connected with representatives of Urban League St. Louis, Inc. and 4 The Ville — a nonprofit that serves the neighborhood that took the brunt of the tornado’s damage — to determine what supplies EquipmentShare should donate. Three of the biggest needs were hygiene products, food and equipment to aid with cleanup.

The latter category is the specialty of the EquipmentShare^TM Tooling Solutions division. Charlie Giraud, a territory account manager for the St. Louis Tooling Solutions branch, secured tarps, PPE, brooms, rakes and shovels. EquipmentShare also donated the use of a telehandler to unload trucks at the donation site.

EquipmentShare CEO Jabbok Schlacks traveled to St. Louis and helped deliver the donations.

“Every time we open a store, we tell the people in the room, ‘We’re involved in our community and our branches donate $2,500 every year to a local charity,’” Wann said. “So you hear about it and know we’re involved in the community at a branch level, but then something like this happens and you truly see how the people at the top are so willing to help. When I saw Jabbok at the donation dropoff, I told him, ‘I’ve worked for a lot of companies before, but I’ve never worked for a company that was so involved with their communities.’”

Community cleanup

Before the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) arrived, the St. Louis construction community worked together to begin the cleanup process. Companies that are normally competitors joined forces. Clayco, Inc., served as the general contractor for the volunteer project and worked together with McCarthy Building Companies, PARIC Corporation, Alberici, Castle Contracting, Keeley Construction, Fred Weber, Concrete Strategies, TW Constructors, KAI, Millstone Weber and other subcontractors and suppliers.

“It is an honor to help lead the construction community response,” said Rick Moeckel, executive vice president and shareholder of Clayco. “I have been impressed and encouraged by how quickly and seamlessly we all came together to work as one for St. Louis and for each other.”

EquipmentShare and the contractors coordinated with city services and civic organizations, including The Urban League and 4 The Ville, as well as the Regional Business Council, Action St. Louis, United Way of Greater St. Louis and Invest STL to organize their efforts as they stabilized structures and removed debris.

“The devastation from the tornado in St. Louis was heartbreaking, and so many in our community lost so much,” said Christie Brinkman, the senior director of McCarthy Building Companies. “In the face of that loss, we saw the very best in people. We’re incredibly grateful to EquipmentShare and the many volunteers who gave their time, materials and support so generously. Their quick, compassionate response made a real difference, and it was an honor for McCarthy to work alongside such dedicated partners to help our neighbors begin the long road to recovery.”

Jonathan Rickermann, a territory account manager at the EquipmentShare Core Solutions branch in St. Louis, spoke to several of his customers to see who could use some help with the cleanup. EquipmentShare paired with PARIC to remove debris from more than a dozen city blocks.

For five days, Rickermann was joined each day by a crew of volunteers from his branch to work alongside the PARIC team. EquipmentShare provided three skid steers with grapple buckets to clear downed trees and other debris, as well as a boom lift to place tarps on damaged roofs.

“To see what those people were going through was tough to see,” Rickermann said. “These were all brick homes. It was kind of like the video or photos you see from World War II in Germany where entire sides of buildings were missing and you could see the rooms inside.”

Each evening, the EquipmentShare and PARIC volunteers drove their skid steers in a line down Martin Luther King Boulevard to store the equipment in a fenced lot and then reversed the process in the morning. Rickermann said the neighborhood residents, who hadn’t been able to drive on their streets for days, showed their appreciation to the volunteers.

“It was kind of like a parade,” Rickermann said. “You’d see people on the side of the road clapping and the kids waving, so that was cool to see.”

EquipmentShare and the rest of the construction volunteers stepped aside when FEMA arrived so it could manage the rest of the cleanup. Rickermann was proud of what EquipmentShare and the construction community achieved during trying times.

“We didn’t just say we were going to do this, this and this — we stuck with it, did what we said we were going to do and even more than we said we were going to do,” Rickermann said. “It was nice for EquipmentShare to free up the resources for us to get it done. The FEMA guys that came in, seeing what the contractors and the rest of us accomplished, their minds were blown.”

Cooking for a cause

Craig Hindelang has mobilized to feed the masses in disaster areas 11 times during his tenure as EquipmentShare’s head chef. He and his trusty team of Brian Coates and Brandon Wulff know the routine by heart. But that doesn’t mean it ever gets easier seeing the desperation in the eyes of people whose lives have been upended. 

“The first day in St. Louis was hard,” Hindelang said. “A gentleman who had lost his wife came through our line. Another person who had lost a relative came through. Out of the five people who lost their lives in St. Louis, two of their family members found their way to our food that day.” 

Hindelang, Coates and Wulff and a revolving cast of EquipmentShare volunteers prepared more than 5,000 meals in three days — using three flat-top grills to cook mountains of fajitas, burgers and hot dogs. They were joined by city and state officials who helped serve and deliver meals to the people who needed them most. 

“You stand on your feet for 14 to 16 hours just to see the smile on one kid’s face,” Hindelang said. “Then you don’t care how long you stood. That’s the good thing about it. Of course it’s hot and hard to do, but everyone who does it finds it rewarding. We’re able to give something we have. And EquipmentShare is great for letting us do it.”

— Learn more about how EquipmentShare gives back.