Networks & Collaborations
The interaction between small business, emergency preparedness and public-private partnerships
Hurricane Sandy was the deadliest and most destructive hurricane of 2012, killing at least 117 people in the United States and 69 more in Canada and the Caribbean. NY City Mayor Bloomberg estimated the total public and private losses to be $19 billion while Governor Cuomo estimated the cost to New York State to be $41.9 billion.
In the mist of this devastation, it is easy to lose sight that this catastrophe could have been much worse if it were not because of the collaboration within successful homeland security networks. Presidential Policy Directive 8 (PPD-8) galvanizes action to facilitate an all-of-Nation approach to build and sustain preparedness as a shared responsibility. The Directive drives Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) “Whole Community” approach engaging interconnected networks to build a stronger social infrastructure and greater resiliency at both the community and national levels. Government cannot solve the challenges of a disaster with a government-centric approach, it takes a whole of nation including the private sector, which provides the majority of the services of the entire community. However, a whole community approach needs to reflect the interest of the entire community, finding ways to support and strengthen existing networks present in daily lives of individuals, businesses and organizations before an incident occurs.
Some of the factors that influence this engagement are both (1) an understanding of community dynamics as a major piece of preparedness and (2) the value of public-private partnerships.
- Understanding Community Dynamics
In an all hazards environment, leveraging and strengthening existing networks and assets means understanding how communities operate under normal conditions (e.g., before a disaster). Building on day-to-day functions and determining how to leverage the diverse group of community partners, and institutions as part of the emergency team is one of the aims of FEMA’s “Whole Community” approach to emergency management. Towards these aims, FEMA engages the community via social media (Twitter, Facebook, YouTube) the private sector via the National Business Emergency Operations Center (NBEOC) and its Private Sector Web Portal. However, the Community Emergency Response Teams (CERT) has been one of its most effective and successful partnerships in the last 40 years engaging the community because it rejects a centric approach. CERT aims to understand and meet the needs of the community by forming more organically, adhering to the identity, purpose and structure of committed individuals for successful partnerships. For instance, when Hurricane Sandy flooded more than half of the Mile Square City of Hoboken, CERT training increased its volunteer members from 10 to 65. The volunteers used their training to answer the emergency hotlines, distribute supplies, and set up a makeshift pharmacy providing medicine to those who needed it. This engagement better positions stakeholders to plan and meet the needs of the community, and the different perspectives empower communities and contribute to different decisions on how to prepare for and respond based on the community’s level of preparedness. Moreover, with the budget constraints affecting local and state government, the sharing of resources across the community compensates for budgetary pressures. Mayor Bloomberg recognized CERT members during Hurricane Sandy acknowledging “You are our most direct connection to communities in times of crisis, and you are vitally important part of helping us prepare before a crisis starts”. The CERT members are ready to support professional emergency services in the aftermath of Sandy or any other disaster having a deeper understanding of the diverse needs of the populations, contributing to the establishment of relationships that facilitate prevention, protection, mitigation, response and recovery.
2. Value of Public-Private Partnerships
Partnerships between the public and the private sector is essential, in part because the private sector owns and operates 85% of the nation’s critical infrastructure of the United States. Recognizing that all sectors of society must work together to foster resilient communities, FEMA has representation in the National Voluntary Organizations Active in Disaster VOAD. Both organizations established a formal partnership agreement to work together throughout the disaster cycle to enhance cooperation, communication, coordination and collaboration between government and the private nonprofit community. Hurricane Sandy exemplified the value of public-private partnership when National VOAD partnered with the UPS Foundation and the Business Civic Leadership Center (BCLC) of the U.S. Chamber of Commerce. The UPS Foundation worked with National VOAD to provide more than $100,000 of in-kind shipping services to nonprofit agencies to move material into the affected areas while the BCLC created a web portal for their community of businesses and corporations to find opportunities within the nonprofit community for skills based volunteerism. The advantage of this approach is its ability to be integrated to any given incident. The private sector is able to circumvent bureaucratic hurdles by using different contracting methods so that projects can be started earlier and completed without exceeding the cost of the project providing flexible resources in a timely manner. Furthermore, there is an added value through synergies between the private sector companies and public authorities through the integration and cross-transfer of knowledge and expertise.
These collaborations help to stabilize a community’s economy and promote resiliency by addressing the challenges brought by disasters improving public-private coordination by engaging and caring for volunteers, managing donations and providing mass care.
The dynamics involved in these efforts were complex shared responsibilities between state, local government, private industry and the non-profit sector. The two areas highlighted models of interconnectedness reflecting a “whole community” approach that can be sustained only by engaging multiple partners. This concept is essential to enable Americans to understand community dynamics and leverage local skills and expertise. However, it takes a whole community as no single institution, agency, or organization can work in isolation.
