Faith over Fear: How Resilency Moved a Local Family to Thrive After Hurricane Devastation

Hurricane Ida was an uninvited yet familiar guest to Chad and Monique Naquin who lost their business after the storm left the building of operations leveled to the ground.

The couple had a fabrication company, Marine Aluminum Products, LLC, which was founded in 2003. They started building boats in Chauvin and Chad said they were doing well until Hurricane Katrina changed the landscape of South Louisiana. The storm damaged the building they were renting to a point where they could not work anymore which then led them to move the business into a building they owned in Point-aux-Chenes so they could continue working while the rented building was being repaired. Twenty-three days later, Hurricane Rita put six feet of water into the same building, ‘I’m sure you understand that with insurance, it takes 30 days after you make a change,” Chad explained, “So we basically lost everything at that point. All of our equipment, all of our aluminum, everything that we were doing just went away at that point.”

He said they were fortunate enough to be able to pay the employees and accounts payable at the time. The Naquins were looking at getting a Small Business Administration (SBA) loan when Monique suggested Chad go back to working for someone else while they figured out where to go next, “We were a mess at that point,” he said, “I ended up going work for Edison Chouest Offshore and it turned out to be a really good deal.” As time went on, the Naquins were able to slowly get the boat business back in order. They have been able to operate the fabrication business for the last 15 years out of a building on their personal property and it has been a success. Within the last year, they made some changes to the design of the boats and Chad said they were on the verge of getting the business back to 100 percent until Hurricane Ida changed everything.

The Naquins had damage to their home. They explained they had a fair amount of damage but it didn’t cause a total loss. However, the building they operated their fabrication business in wasn’t so lucky. The building left the slab completely and the majority of everything went along with it. The next step for them was to turn to insurance which ended up being a nightmare for the couple. As it turns out, their policy was written with only flood and didn’t include wind or hail. “The first time around we lost around $400,000 and this time we lost about the same,” he said. At that moment, the couple had a conversation about where the journey would take them next, and Chad told his wife that he couldn’t take another beating. That’s when the next decision, both business and personal, was made that blossomed into more than the Naquins could imagine.

The couple decided to buy equipment to help with the recovery of the community. They not only wanted to try to recover what they lost financially, but they also wanted to help out their fellow Cajuns in recovering from the ruins Ida left behind. “At that point we bought equipment and we got some breaks. The growth rate of what we did has been astronomical,” Chad explained. He shared that he is thankful for not only having good credit to be able to invest but also to be associated with good people to make the endeavor possible.

The new endeavor, known as N5 Marine & Equipment Div, is a division under the umbrella of their LLC with Marine Aluminum Products which has been in place for twenty years. They own heavy equipment such as excavators and skid steers to perform civil work, beautification, construction, and more. They were awarded the job for FEMA helping get group sites ready for locals who needed temporary housing after Ida destroyed their homes.

“You give back to the community,” Monique said,” You actually help people of the area have a place to live.” Chad chimed in, “Yeah. We did a lot of praying and a lot of following good guidance and at this point, we’re up to eight employees and ten heavy pieces of equipment. It’s been a challenge. I heard people say running a business is difficult, but running a successful business is very difficult. I learned that lesson the hard way.”

Monique said in the beginning that it was just her and her husband. They would go to people’s houses on weekends to help clean up, sometimes bringing their children, and she said it grew from there. While helping people, others would stop to ask them to help out as well, and that’s where it truly began to grow. “We would have never guessed we would have been this blessed because it truly is a blessing…two days after the storm, you have no electricity or running water, and it’s like what are we going to do? To sit here today, don’t get me wrong, we have demoed and hauled off many houses, and each property we have done has a story behind it. To me, that has been humbling.” Monique shared.

While the couple has helped many families, they said the experience hasn’t been easy and has changed their outlook on life. Chad recounted the feeling he had when he would load the equipment and drive to the properties to meet the owners. “The minute you take your first swipe and you start to tear their houses down, you can see tears start to roll down their faces. It was horrible. It became difficult and we would have to stop, have conversations with the owners, and had to tell them it would be ugly. Some of these houses they grew up in, their parents grew up in, and that was the thing that surprised me the most about my personality is how much that disturbed me.”

Chad said at 52 years old, everything that has happened since August 29, 2021, changed his outlook on everything,” I see things way differently.” he said,” the actuality of suffering will change you when you see it first hand…the stories that we hear about people struggling with insurance companies and having to sue insurance companies; every day we hear stories like that.” He noted that some people are blinded because they don’t see this type of suffering or strife in life until it happens to them, “I’ve talked to people when we were building these parks people pulling up asking when the parks will be opening, “he remembered,” When you look in their car, they had everything in their car.” Monique chimed in on the memory, “I remember that story. They had a woman that pulled up with her children in the car wanting to know when there was going to be housing…you knew that person was going to be sleeping in their cars that night.”

Although the experience was difficult, they found light in the fact that when they left work for the day, they knew they helped people get closer to recovery. “To me, it was like a blank canvas. You can restart and rebuild better,” Monique said. Chad agreed, “It stays with you, it does, but we’re fortunate enough to chuck up some wins and some of them are very subtle.” They said although the experiences for their customers were difficult, the storm survivors were eager to get debris gone from their properties and start the rebuilding process. It was a sign of hope and a sign of what was to come. One of the best qualities of South Louisiana is the resiliency of its people.

Since Ida, N5 has grown in a way the Naquins could not imagine. Since starting the work, in just eight months, they have averaged one new hire a month and one purchase of heavy equipment a month. This is while Chad remains a loyal employee at Edison Chouest as Lead Supervisor in the Maintenance Department. Chad said the Chuest family has been an influence on him,” If you ever been around any one of those family members and realize what their minds are capable of producing, you realize just how strong the human mind is, and yes, it can be done,” he said, “The Chouest family has been so good to me the past 16 years and actually have given my company some work…I have no intention of  leaving. I made a promise to Mr. Gary that I was going to put a management structure together so that I  can still do my job and keep this company afloat, and for 8 months, I have been successful at it.”

Chad and Monique have incorporated their children into the business and the couple said that it has instilled family values along with work values. Their 19-year-old son, who worked for Edison Chouest as well, recently switched to full-time with N5. Their 15-year-old also has worked with the company and designed the N5 logo. They said it’s important to them that it is a family business which is obvious when you learn about the meaning behind the name N5. N5 stands for “Naquin” and the five because there are five in their family. 

The Naquins are the definition of resilient. They said they live by two things; not quitting and having faith over fear, “The only way you can fail is if you quit. Just don’t quit, push, keep moving forward at whatever level you can,” Chad said. What’s next for the Naquins? They plan on continuing working hard and following the path that has been laid down for them, “We’ll keep working as hard as we possibly can and grow with the times and not settle. Not getting into that comfort zone and keeping the work going…We plan to keep following the path the Lord has put in front of us.” Follow N5 on Facebook.