U.S. Chamber's BCLC Announces Important Disaster Management Resources

Current Economy Makes Disaster Management Even More Critical

WASHINGTON, D.C.—The U.S. Chamber of Commerce's Business Civic Leadership Center (BCLC) together with the Safe America Foundation today announced new resources, including a disaster recovery report, to strengthen community disaster management nationwide. The announcement comes after BCLC's two-day disaster workshop during which more than seventy officials from businesses, chambers of commerce, humanitarian organizations, and emergency management agencies practiced a coordinated response to a back-to-back disaster scenario.

The Chamber's report, A Critical Role: Top Ten Policies That States Need to Recover from Disasters, offers best practices for states to reduce the potential effects of disasters and expedite recovery. The report, sponsored by Allstate, is based on twenty-five years of research on various disaster recovery efforts across the United States and is available online at www.uschamber.com/bclc.

"Disaster recovery is a complicated process, and, in these trying economic times, a disaster could be absolutely catastrophic to a community," said BCLC Executive Director Stephen Jordan. "But by building community resiliency, implementing effective response systems, and then helping communities build back better than before, the process can be successful."

Also announced at the press conference was the Safe America Foundation's 9/11 Drill Down for Safety. Around the country on September 11, 2009, in conjunction with businesses, community leaders, and government agencies, Safe America will host local preparedness drills. This day, sponsored by businesses including UPS, Motorola Foundation, and Office Depot Foundation, gives every American the opportunity to participate in and strengthen community resiliency.

"Companies are interested in maximizing resiliency and minimizing loss in the communities where they do business," said Jordan. "The resources announced today are examples of business helping local communities establish faster and smarter disaster management tools."

BCLC is a 501(c) 3 affiliate of the U.S. Chamber of Commerce and manages the U.S. Chamber's Disaster Assistance and Recovery program. BCLC is a resource and voice for businesses and their social and philanthropic interests.

The U.S. Chamber is the world's largest business federation representing more than 3 million businesses and organizations of every size, sector, and region.

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