Business Continuity and Emergency Planning. Connected but Uniquely Different

Why Business Continuity is Important?

Companies today face an unprecedented number of exposures. The frequency and severity of weather-related events seem to be increasing and reliance on a complex network of technology and supply chains is expanding. Both trends leave businesses susceptible to a variety of existing and emerging risks. Managing these risks by developing a business continuity strategy is key to the survival of any organization.

Why Business Continuity?

Business continuity planning is one of the most critical components of any recovery strategy. Unfortunately, not every company develops a continuity plan. Here are a few misconceptions and realities about business continuity planning.

Misconception #1: "Our people will know what to do in an emergency."

Even the best employees cannot be expected to know what to do when disaster strikes. Leaving each to respond in his or her own way only adds to the confusion of an event. Having a well-documented business continuity plan in advance, and training your employees to follow it, gets everyone on the same page — helping to ensure an organized, safe and timely recovery.

Misconception #2: "We have insurance to cover our losses."

Insurance alone is NOT a business continuity strategy. Proper coverage is a significant and important part of the plan. But it may not fully cover some of the peripheral damages from an event, like loss of customers, loss of market share, or setbacks in development or release of a new product. Consult with your insurance agent to understand what is and is not covered under your policy.

Misconception #3: "We do not have the time to develop a business continuity plan."

Time spent developing and maintaining a business continuity plan is an investment in your company. Your fixed costs will continue after an event, whether or not you are open for business. The faster you can return your operations to normal, the more likely you will recover from the event successfully. With so much at stake, your company cannot afford to NOT have a plan.

Misconception #4: "Business continuity and disaster recovery planning are the same."

Business continuity is a proactive plan to avoid and mitigate risks associated with a disruption of operations. It details steps to be taken before, during and after an event to maintain the financial viability of an organization.

Disaster recovery and emergency planning is a reactive plan for responding after an event. It deals with the safety and restoration of critical personnel, locations, and operational procedures after a disaster, and is a part of business continuity planning.

Think Your Business Can Withstand a Disaster? Think Again

Twenty-five percent of businesses do not reopen following a major event. It does not take a major catastrophe to shut down a business. In fact, seemingly minor disruptions compared to widespread natural disasters can often cause significant damage — power failures, broken water pipes, or loss of computer data.

A Good Investment

From Hurricane Irma and the to the tornadoes in Oklahoma, companies that proactively consider how to respond to events are the first to get back to business, often at the expense of competitors.

A predefined business continuity plan combined with the proper insurance coverage, maximizes the chance of a successful recovery by eliminating hasty decision-making under stressful conditions. It details how to get businesses back on track after a disruption – in the most thoughtful way possible.

Start Your Plan Today!

Planning for a disruption or catastrophic event should happen when business is going well, not when disaster strikes. Having a pre-defined, well-documented business continuity plan that clearly communicates how your business will respond during an event can help mitigate risk — and is one of the best investments your company can make.

Opportunity: Foreign Affairs Campus Coordinator Program Deadline: 8/24/2018

Become a Foreign Affairs Campus Coordinator!

The U.S. Department of State's Office of Public Engagement is currently accepting applications from prior State Department interns for the Foreign Affairs Campus Coordinator Program for the 2018-2019 academic year! This is a volunteer position. Applicants must have held a prior State Department internship.

The Foreign Affairs Campus Coordinator Program is managed by the Department of State's Bureau of Public Affairs. The mission of the program is to establish outreach partnerships with universities throughout the United States and to better inform college students about U.S. foreign policy priorities. The program is designed to create a network of State Department student contacts on college campuses across the nation. By relying on students' academic experience, interest in foreign policy and knowledge of their campus community, the Bureau of Public Affairs seeks to reach a wider cross-section of students on college campuses and surrounding institutions.

Have questions? Get answers!

If you would like to apply to participate in the Foreign Affairs Campus Coordinator Program, please submit your completed application along with your resume to campuscoordinator@state.gov by Friday, August 24, 2018. For more information or if you have further questions, please send an email to campuscoordinator@state.gov.

Opportunity, Proj Directors, Program, QC Managers, and Inspection Supervisors

Currently in the market for Project Directors, Program Managers, QC Managers and Inspection Supervisors.  All positions require at least 10 years of experience at FEMA, on a FEMA contract or statewide emergency management. 

Please feel free to share with BEMA members.  If anyone is interested, please ask them to email their resume/CV to me.  Thank you.


More information is on FBO - https://www.fbo.gov/?s=opportunity&mode=form&tab=core&id=8bd540851edd3b43a2a41dca34a7aa5c

Draft RFP for housing inspection services contract in support of FEMA's Response and Recovery Division and the Individual Assistance Program
Solicitation Number: Draft_RFP_70FB7018R00000023
Best Regards,

Sharolyn R. Hyson, MPP
Imminent Solutions, Inc. | www.imminentsolutionsinc.com
Sharolyn@imminentsolutionsinc.com | 

Can I get my student loans forgiven? Working for a nonprofit can be beneficial

What are the parameters if you work for a nonprofit?

While millions of Americans have student loan debt, very few know about loan forgiveness programs. If you are employed full-time at a government agency or not-for-profit organization, you may qualify to get your public loans forgiven. 


Public Service Loan Forgiveness (PSLF) Program

http://www.latimes.com/nation/nationnow/la-na-puerto-rico-hurricane-maria-turmoil-20180721-story.html#nws=mcnewsletter

Internal turmoil slows rebuilding of Puerto Rico's power grid

By ASSOCIATED PRESS

JUL 21, 2018 | 6:00 AM

| SAN JUAN, PUERTO RICO

  

Marta Bermudez Robles' home in Adjuntas, Puerto Rico, has been without power since Hurricanes Irma and Maria. (Dennis M. Rivera Pichardo / Associated Press)

 

Ten months after Hurricane Maria destroyed Puerto Rico's electric grid, the local agency responsible for rebuilding it is in chaos and more than $1 billion in federal funds meant to strengthen the rickety system has gone unspent, according to contractors and U.S. officials who are anxious to make progress before the next hurricane.

The Puerto Rico Electric Power Authority has seen two chief executive officers and four board members resign in less than a week in a messy fight over how much the bankrupt agency should pay its CEO. The agency's fourth CEO since the hurricane lasted less than 24 hours on the job last week before resigning amid public outrage over his $750,000 salary.

Gov. Ricardo Rossello of the New Progressive Party named the former head of Puerto Rico's water and sewer agency Wednesday as the fifth head of the electric company since Maria, at a salary of $250,000 a year. Jose Ortiz starts work Monday.

"In spite of missteps in the past, everybody will see that we have the right person at the right time," Rossello said.

The turmoil has fueled delays in launching $1.4 billion worth of work that includes replacing creaky wooden power poles vulnerable to collapse in the next storm, the chief federal official in charge of rebuilding Puerto Rico told the Associated Press.

"There is no permanent work that's been done," said Mike Byrne, the Federal Emergency Management Agency's assistant administrator for field operations. "What I'm worried about is the next level, the permanent work, the going in and building the grid the way I've been tasked to do by Congress."

From shut-down medical equipment to the spread of waterborne diseases, the cascading effects of power grid failure likely led to hundreds of deaths in the aftermath of the Category 4 hurricane, although the exact number remains a subject of debate and ongoing investigation.

"The one reason why so many people died in the aftermath of the hurricane was the lack of energy," said Sen. Eduardo Bhatia of the opposition Popular Democratic Party. "And the lack of energy comes from how fragile the system was because of years of neglect."

Several hundred Puerto Ricans remained without power Thursday in the longest-running blackout in U.S. history. The entire island remains vulnerable because much of the massive damage from the storm was resolved with temporary fixes that are liable to fail in the next hurricane.

These include thousands of weakened and damaged poles and power lines that were reused in the absence of new supplies. In some cases, lines were bolted to trees.

The Puerto Rico power authority notified three large mainland U.S. companies in March that they had been selected to carry out $1.4 billion worth of contracts that include finishing emergency restoration work and beginning the long-term task of overhauling the power grid. Nearly four months later, the agency has not issued the final orders required to send the linemen into the field to do the permanent work, according to federal officials and some contractors.

The power authority has not explained why, and a spokesman did not return repeated AP calls for comment.

As with virtually all post-hurricane disaster relief in Puerto Rico, the work is contracted and paid for by bankrupt local agencies using money disbursed by FEMA from billions appropriated by Congress.

The government’s major contracts are reviewed by the board created by Congress to oversee Puerto Rico's finances and bankruptcy-like proceedings. In May, it found problems with the contracts of two of the power companies chosen to do the first stages of permanent work. These include vague descriptions of the scope of the project and a lack of detailed evaluation of costs.

Ortiz, the power authority's new head, indicated potential problems with at least one contractor: Cobra, a subsidiary of Oklahoma-based Mammoth Energy. Cobra has been awarded more than $1.8 billion in federal money, at rates of about $4,000 per worker per day in many cases. Ortiz said the cost of the contractors would be getting a second look.

"It will be reevaluated," he told reporters Wednesday. "Certainly the numbers merit being looked at very closely."

Cobra representatives declined to comment.

The problems at the power authority are prompting calls for urgent change to Puerto Rico's decades-old system of putting its power generation and transmission under the control of a government agency run by the governor's appointees rather than an independent, government-regulated corporation, as occurs in virtually all other parts of the United States.

Rossello has proposed privatizing the generation of energy and awarding concessions to private contractors for power transmission and distribution. Puerto Rico legislators have approved a measure that would allow for those changes, and they expect to approve another bill in the coming months to establish a regulatory framework.

For many on and off the island, that isn't fast enough.

The Puerto Rico Electric Power Authority "needs to be depoliticized in order to be a functional, modern and reliable utility. The people of Puerto Rico deserve at least that much," said Rep. Rob Bishop (R-Utah), who oversees the issue as chairman of the House Committee on Natural Resources. The committee will hold a July 25 hearing on the power company's future.

Agency employees say that for decades, near-total control by the governor's office has led to the power authority being stuffed with unqualified, politically connected managers. Political influence also drove a string of unrealistic, expensive projects that were canceled by subsequent administrations.

The electric company was also used as a piggy bank for the commonwealth's government by providing years of power to government agencies that didn't pay their bills, and giving highly discounted rates to important island businesses like major hotels.

Essential maintenance like trimming trees back from power lines and replacing decrepit poles was delayed for years, even decades.

In May 2017, Puerto Rico filed for the biggest municipal bankruptcy ever in the U.S. The government carries a $70-billion public debt load, which includes more than $9 billion held by Puerto Rico's power company.

Bankrupt and debilitated by mismanagement, the Puerto Rican electric grid was already in a state of near-collapse when Maria devastated the island in September and left millions without power.

That has been followed by a cascade of CEO departures at the power authority.

First to go was Ricardo Ramos, amid allegations that he hired an underqualified power contractor, Whitefish. His temporary successor was replaced by Walter Higgins, a veteran power executive.

But on July 11, just four months into the job, Higgins resigned. Among the factors influencing his decision, he said, was that compensation details stipulated in his contract could not be met. A month earlier, Puerto Rico's justice secretary had said it would be illegal for a public employee like Higgins to receive bonuses on top of his $450,000 salary.

Power company officials then named board member Rafael Diaz as the new CEO, with a $750,000-a-year salary. Diaz lasted only a day, resigning along with four other board members after Gov. Rossello criticized his salary and said those unwilling to adjust their compensation expectations amid an 11-year recession should step down.

The rapid turnover has set off alarms among ordinary Puerto Ricans and criticism from Rossello's political opponents.

"The economy is being affected, the quality of life is being affected and the lives of people who depend on the electrical system are being put at risk," said Rolando Ortiz, who oversees an association of mayors from the Popular Democratic Party.

Byrne, the FEMA assistant administrator, said stability was urgently needed at the power authority to protect Puerto Rico from future disasters.

"This is a whole machine of activity that needs to take place," Byrne said. "It needs a director, it needs leadership, it needs capability."