Project overview
Since 2011, Vanir has assisted Dillard University in the administration of its FEMA Public Assistance Grant Program. Our involvement includes managing and closing out over 200 project worksheets (representing over $74 million in recovery costs and over $300 million in total disaster losses), formulating alternative and improved projects, packaging and tracking reimbursement requests and reconciling the University’s insurance apportionment.
When Vanir began managing the Program, it faced a potential $20 million deobligation due to incorrectly reconciled private insurance. We worked diligently with FEMA’s upper management in its Washington, D.C. headquarters, as well as representatives from the Louisiana Governor’s Office of Homeland Security and Emergency Management to eliminate this risk of deobligation in its entirety.
Vanir worked on an alternative project with FEMA, repurposing funds originally designated for a destroyed facility that was no longer needed. The funding helped enhance and upgrade the University’s campus-wide security features. Additionally, we assisted the University with its COVID-19 emergency disaster response by providing guidance on public assistance policy and other disaster recovery to its business operations, facilities and accounting staff.
Ongoing public assistance services
Throughout our tenure with the University’s Program, we have successfully obtained additional obligations through version requests, totaling approximately $10 million.
