The importance of public private partnerships in assisting in planning, response, and recovery from a disaster has long been known. Over the years you have read in this column about real-world examples of these partnerships. But I still see a reluctance of private sector organizations in joining or forming such partnerships. Why is that? There is a belief that all the government wants in these partnerships is “what can the private sector provide to us.” Although the private sector does want to help, they are concerned that if they commit resources and their capabilities up front, then they are setting themselves up for issues and problems when a disaster actually hits.
In order for a public private partnership to be successful, all parties must see the value in the partnership. Below are examples of public private partnerships that no longer look for just what the private sector can provide but serve as examples of true partnerships.
I serve on the board of directors of the Business and Industry Council for Emergency Planning and Preparedness (BICEPP). BICEPP is a non-profit professional association of emergency management and business continuity professionals in the Los Angeles region. BICEPP’s goal is to provide a forum for information exchange in order to enhance disaster resilience within the business community. In 2013 BICEPP had its 30th anniversary. So what is the secret for the longevity of this public private partnership?
BICEPP is run by its board of directors that represent both public and private sector organizations. The board looks for ways to support all member organizations with activities, events, training, and information sharing. BICEPP does not ask its members to commit to anything other than to support the mission of enhancing disaster resilience. But what makes BICEPP most valuable is the networking. By building relationships before a disaster, members have the connections they will need to assist in planning, response, and recovery from natural and man-made disasters or terrorists attacks. BICEPP provides value to both its public and private members.
Over the 30-plus years BICEPP was established, it has conducted joint exercises with the county of Los Angeles, conducted employee/community emergency response team challenge events, workplace violence training, training on using social media during a crisis, EOC operations, and more.
Another example in the Los Angeles region is the Community Stakeholder Network (CSN), a collaborative portal designed to support businesses and community stakeholders in developing sustainable community resilience. CSN is committed to encouraging and facilitating the sharing of information within and across various sectors to provide high-value situational awareness and decision-making content. These sectors include academic, communications, distribution, entertainment (after all it is Los Angeles), faith-based, finance, government, health, hospitality, industry, manufacturing, non-profit, professional services, retail, and transportation. Not only does CSN provide collaboration between both public and private sector organizations but within sector organizations, too.
Business Emergency Operations Centers (BEOC) are starting to become more prevalent. A BEOC (in many cases a seat at the public sector EOC) facilitates the sharing of information between the public and private sectors during a disaster response. These can be at the local, county, or state level. Examples include the following:
- The State of Louisiana developed the Louisiana Business Emergency Operations Center. The Louisiana Economic Development chose 40 business leaders and industry trade associations as well as representatives from the Louisiana Voluntary Organizations Active in Disasters to have physical seats at the LA BEOC facility.
- New Your City Office of Emergency Management maintains permanent seats in the city’s emergency operations center (EOC) for private sector organizations. To capture a wide array of interests, OEM partners with 18 umbrella groups including the Securities and Financial Markets Association (SIFMA), the Building Owners and Managers Association (BOMA), the Food Industry Alliance of New York State, and others.
- FEMA has a National Business Emergency Operations Center (NBEOC) that is a virtual business emergency operations center and consists of private sector partners working with FEMA on emergency management response, recovery, and planning efforts. Participation in the NBEOC is voluntary and open to all members of the private sector, including large and small businesses, associations, universities, think tanks, and non-profits.
In order to effectually recovery from a disaster, both the public and private sector will need to be involved. FEMA calls this a whole community approach. Public private partnerships are the tools that will make this happen.
To find out more about any of these public private partnerships or would like to start one in your region, contact PPBI at ppbi@ppbi.org or me at the contact information below.
Lee Goldstein, CBCP, MBCI, is the president of the Business Contingency Group providing disaster recovery, business contingency/continuity of operations, and emergency management planning and consulting services as well as humanitarian assistance. He services on the board of directors for both PPBI and BICEPP. Goldstein can be reached at (818)784-3736 or via e-mail at leeg@businesscontingencygroup.com.
