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CARRI Makes Strides in National
Outreach
by Warren Edwards, CARRI Director
As you have seen and read over the last few months,
the CARRI team, along with our partner communities, is making real progress in bringing community leaders together, identifying areas of resilience
and charting a course to help these communities become more resilient.
On a national level, CARRI has begun to establish a national network and jointly participate with other entities and
organizations focused on resilience. CARRI is reaching out and partnering with these organizations when possible. More importantly, we are
learning what we can from others.
CARRI is proud to be working with both the private sector and the public sector in our national outreach. Here are a
few highlights of some organizations and private sector industries that CARRI is engaged with that are vitally important to the success of CARRI.
United States Chamber of
Commerce
With the goal of shaping resilience at a national level, CARRI is working
closely with the U.S. Chamber of Commerce. The U.S. Chamber of Commerce is the world's largest business federation, representing more than 3
million businesses of all sizes, sectors and regions. It includes hundreds of associations, thousands of local chambers and more than 100 American
Chambers of Commerce in 91 countries.
CARRI is currently working
with the new State and Local Government Coordinating Council and recently participated in a panel discussion with Steven Flynn, author of "The Edge of
Disaster" and Ruth David, Director of the Homeland Security Institute.
The response to CARRI has been extremely positive and we look forward to continuing our partnership with the U.S. Chamber
of Commerce.
National Oceanic and Atmospheric
Administration (NOAA)
NOAA is specifically focused on Coastal Zone Management and Climate
Mitigation and Adaption. They are very interested in partnering with CARRI in these efforts.
NOAA wants to work with the CARRI teams in Charleston, South Carolina and possibly Gulfport, Mississippi to
examine resilience attributes and ways to measure those attributes to determine a community's state of resilience.
Interagency Working Group (IAWG)
In June, CARRI participated in a panel organized by the Washington, D.C.
Interagency Working Group on Emergency Preparedness. The half-day forum included presentations and panel discussions from leaders representing
the federal government, the state governments of Virginia and Maryland, the District of Columbia, and private industry who are involved in the
planning, coordination and response to emergencies. The session developed a deeper awareness of the role of private industry in preparedness and
response, understanding how a community undertakes a resiliency program and how to facilitate successful integration.
CARRI occasionally
coordinates informal interagency workgroup meetings in Washington, D.C. to discuss and coordinate efforts in community resiliency and outreach.
Participation includes the Federal Emergency Management Agency, Private Sector Division of the Department of Homeland Security (DHS), Center for
Faith-Based & Community Initiatives DHS, Volunteer Management DHS, Office of Civil Rights and Civil Liberties DHS, Citizen Corps DHS, Office of Health
Affairs DHS, Federal Reserve Board, Ready Campaign DHS, Office of Grants And Training DHS and others.
Insurance and Finance Industry
CARRI has been engaged and is continuing meetings with the insurance and
finance industry to discuss how "resilience standards" might positively impact insurance in the future. Feedback from the insurance and finance
industry has been positive as they are happy that CARRI is working with them at the beginning of this process so we can jointly define a path
forward.
CARRI is planning an industry roundtable for later in
the summer in Washington, D.C. to bring together insurance industry stakeholders for discussions on community resilience.
In addition, CARRI has been invited to present to a real estate insurance industry
senior advisory group in September.
CARRI continues to move
forward on a local, regional and national level. With the work in our partner communities, the work of our national research team and our
outreach to the public and private sector on a national level, CARRI is learning how resilience can positively affect the nation. As we look to
the second half of 2008, you will start seeing what CARRI is learning from our national research and the hard work of our partner
communities.
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Chief of the Federal Communications Commission's (FCC) Bureau of Public Safety and Homeland
Security Receives CARRI Briefing
CARRI Release
Oak Ridge, Tenn. - Derek K. Poarch, Chief of the FCC's Public Safety and Homeland Security Bureau, recently visited the Oak Ridge
National Laboratory to receive a full briefing on the Community and Regional Resilience Initiative (CARRI).
Chief Poarch is responsible for overseeing all FCC activities pertaining to public safety, homeland security,
emergency management and disaster preparedness, and represents the Commission on these issues before federal, state, and industry
organizations.
"We were honored to have Chief Poarch visit the
Oak Ridge National Laboratory," said Warren Edwards, CARRI director. "As we all know, communications play a vital role in emergency response and
preparedness. We look forward to working with Chief Poarch on important communication issues that will help communities and regions become more
resilient in the future."
The Public Safety and Homeland Security
Bureau is responsible for developing, recommending, and administering the agency's policies pertaining to public safety communications issues. These
policies include 911 and E911; operability and interoperability of public safety communications; communications infrastructure protection and disaster
response; and network security and reliability. The Bureau also serves as a clearinghouse for public safety communications information and takes the
lead on emergency response issues.
A primary goal of the Bureau is to support and advance initiatives that further strengthen and enhance the
security and reliability of the nation's communications infrastructure and public safety and emergency response capabilities that will better enable
the FCC to assist the public, first responders, law enforcement, hospitals, the communications industry and all levels of government in the event of a
natural disaster, pandemic or terrorist attack.
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Community Briefs
Gulfport, Mississippi
The CARRI Gulfport Advisory Group met on June 18 at Mississippi Power's
Stephen R. Covey Conference Center. During this meeting, the Advisory Group reached agreement in selecting six "resilience focus areas" from a
list of more than 30 candidates. The Advisory Group will suggest members for small core teams that will be formed around each of these focus
areas. During the remainder of 2008, the core teams will be developing actions plans for each resilient focus areas.
Brad Spangler of the Meridian Institute joined the CARRI-Gulfport Team in
June. Brad will support the Gulfport Advisory Group and future focus area teams, along with Meridian colleague and CARRI Gulfport lead
facilitator, Ann Olsen. Brad will also be assisting CARRI efforts in Charleston, South Carolina.
Charleston, South Carolina Urban
Area
The CARRI-Charleston team is preparing for the second self-assessment
workshop set for July 23. The first self-assessment meeting in May drew nearly 50 community participants, representing a range of government and
non-government representatives. The work session resulted in constructive discussion of key areas of concern, including core matters such as
transportation, housing and cross-jurisdictional communications. The Joseph P. Riley Center for Urban Affairs and Policy Studies has undertaken a
research effort to help guide and support the process as it shifts from discussion to action. The team is also developing an organizational
roadmap and methodological approach that could be used by other communities.
Of note, Andy Felts, director of the Riley Center for Urban
Affairs and Policy Studies, was interviewed about CARRI's participation in the Charleston Urban Area on South Carolina Public Radio by Bob Becker of
the Strom Thurmond Institute at Clemson University. The link to the audio stream of the interview is available at http://yourday.clemson.edu/schedule.php.
Memphis, Tennessee Urban Area
The CARRI-Memphis Urban Area (MUA) Team is in the process of planning and
coordinating a Mid-South Association of Contingency Planners (MSACP)-CARRI hosted event with the Bartlett, Tennessee Chamber of Commerce. This
event will kick off a series of business-focused group meetings and initiate an information/resource exchange and resilience dialog. Community hosts
are Jim Threadgill, Bartlett Chamber of Commerce and Rick Bowker, Memphis Light Gas and Water, President of MSACP and CARRI-MUA Advisory Group
member.
Earlier this month, the CARRI-MUA team gave a
presentation on CARRI to the Memphis/Shelby County Local Emergency Planning Committee.
The CARRI-MUA also submitted their informational abstract for the Annual Natural Hazards Workshop next month. The
workshop is hosted by the Natural Hazards Center at the University of Colorado at Boulder. For more information: http://www.colorado.edu/hazards/.
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