Five Blocks from Twin Towers Site, NABS Headquarters Is Open

John Wolz

When the first plane struck the north tower of the World Trade Center at 8:48 a.m. Tuesday, September 11, most of the 30 people working at fastener distributor NABS headquarters were at work five blocks to the north.\
�Most people were in the office. Some were on the way in and saw the crash,� executive vice president Sam Laufer recalled.
The head of engineering was on the Brooklyn Bridge and saw the crash. Minutes later Laufer himself came out of the Chambers Street subway and noticed �tons of people looking up. Everyone was in shock.�
The street level office in a five-story Tribeca building was disrupted as everyone watched hundreds of emergency vehicles heading past. Many witnessed the second airplane and explosion.
�We deliberated about what to do,� Laufer related. �It was a balancing act. We were in a safer environment with electricity, telephone and bathrooms. There were 100,000 people fleeing through the dust and smoke. �We decided to stay put, because at that point it was difficult to get home.�
Police and rescue crews came in during the day for water and the bathroom.
The Twin Towers are �Ground Zero,� and Laufer refers to his location being so close that it is �Ground One.�
About 2:30 p.m. Laufer decided to close the office and allow employees to make their way home. The next morning they opened a temporary office at their IT provider in Midtown. They spent the first couple days letting customers know they were okay and that NABS would continue to service them.
Power and phone service had eventually been cut off at the headquarters, but was back by Saturday, September 15. They reopened the headquarters on Monday.
Staff must go through security checkpoints to reach the office, and no commercial traffic is permitted below Canal Street.
NABS, founded by current president Jack Laufer in 1953 as North American Bolt & Screw Co., supplies fasteners and C Class components to the computer and electronics industries. NABS provides vendor-managed inventory, so customers had �buffer stock at their various locations,� Laufer reported.
Customers around the world were not disrupted because of onsite inventories and the 19 NABS locations. �It is a testament to the model of vendor-managed inventory,� Laufer said. �There was no need to use airplanes to rush delivery. There was total continuity of supply.�
Laufer said none of the 30 NABS headquarters staff lost family in the tragedy. �We were very lucky,� Laufer observed.
They know of one former employee who was hospitalized.
Laufer lost a classmate, which �etched it permanently on my consciousness. It will always change the way we see things.�
�The knowledge that so many people are buried there makes it a difficult environment to work in and difficult to keep focused,� Laufer observed.
NABS is providing counseling. �Overall, we are okay.�
The tragedy showed �the incredible response of so much of humanity.�
Lower Manhattan once had many fastener suppliers, but �we are one of the last,� Laufer stated.
�2001 FastenerNews.com