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The BENS Public-Private Partnership program created an innovative model of collaboration between business and government to help meet homeland security needs. BENS' partnership programs have worked to mobilize private-sector support for all-hazards preparedness and response efforts and have helped communities bounce back from disasters. Across the country, BENS partnerships have made a real impact in helping communities and states handle a number of emergencies, including tornadoes, floods and wildfires. During these situations, businesses in the partnership program have provided needed resources – such as transportation or bottled water – to assist the government in relief efforts. Since the launch of BENS' first public-private partnership in 2003, the program has grown to become a nationally recognized approach to homeland security. Coast-to-coast, BENS’ partnerships have made a real difference in a number of emergency situations, from delivering needed supplies after historic floods in Iowa, to coordinating private-sector assistance during California wildfires, to providing commercial property for a FEMA relief center after a tornado hit Atlanta. BENS’ partnerships transitioned to independent entities in 2009, but the model of public-private collaboration they created has helped to advance disaster preparedness and response.
Partnerships History White Paper 2002 — BENS began working to build public-private partnerships in eight regions over six years. Regional partnerships are designed to have the ability to deliver many tools to help government respond to attacks or natural disasters, including: business operation centers, supply chain management for private-sector resources and mass dispensing of medication, information fusion centers, crucial infrastructure protection, and security gap identification. 2003 — BENS launched its first partnership, the New Jersey Business Force. The partnership began with 30 charter members, including most New Jersey-based Fortune 500 companies. The partnership would go on to register over $300 million in business resources to be used during catastrophic events, create a local alert system through customized software, and pilot a satellite data casting system to offer an alternative channel of communication during emergencies. 2004 — BENS launched the Georgia Business Force. The partnership began with 20 charter members, including most Atlanta-based global firms. Its Business Operations Center connects businesses to the state’s Emergency Operations Center where business representatives serve as coordinators and analysts during emergencies. 2004 — BENS worked with Massachusetts’ Emergency Management Agency to rapidly create a web-based registry of business resources prior to the 2004 Democratic National Convention in Boston. Massachusetts has since developed its own partnership. 2004 — BENS helped ten prominent businesses in the Metro Kansas City area develop the Mid-America Business Force. The partnership developed Terrorism Early Warning, the region’s information fusion center. Additionally, its members have created a series of seminars and exercises known as “Operation Resilient Guard,” which alerts and educates citizens, government, and businesses on potential threats. 2005 — BENS launched the Bay Area Business Force in northern California. The partnership would go on to have nearly fifty active companies connect to nine regional Emergency Operation Centers through its own version of the Business Operations Center. The partnership also took the lead in organizing private-sector participation in Port Protector and Golden Guardian, California’s emergency preparedness exercises. 2005 — BENS partnered with the Homeland Security Advisory Council (HSAC) in southern California, agreeing to employ the partnership staff and help manage HSAC operations. HSAC started in 2003 as a business advisory group for the sheriffs of Los Angeles and Orange Counties. It would go on have a membership of 80 businesses in southern California and launch a Business Response Network database, making available tens of millions of dollars in business resources that can be used during a crisis. In addition, HSAC would go on to prepare for a major medical emergency by organizing businesses to be able to mass dispense medication effectively from the Strategic National Stockpile. 2005 — BENS’ Georgia Business Force organized a hypothetical bioterrorist attack to plan ways to expand business and public health collaboration in developing capacity for emergency mass dispensing. 2005 — BENS partnered with the Department of Homeland Security to help integrate business into the third and fourth sessions of Top Officials, the Department’s biennial national terrorism exercises. The exercises help identify security and resilience gaps and test new programs. 2006 — Recognizing the importance of regional partnerships, the White House report, Katrina: Lessons Learned, encouraged expansion of the BENS’ regional partnership model. 2007 — BENS joined forces with the Iowa Business Council to launch the Safeguard Iowa Partnership. The partnership began with top executives from 24 of the state’s largest businesses, hospitals, and universities. With BENS providing the oversight and expertise, Safeguard Iowa followed other regions’ resiliency programs by building a private-sector resource registry and improving communication between business and government. 2007 — During the Southern California wildfires, HSAC and BENS Bay Area Business Force served together as the private-sector liaison to the California Governor’s Office of Emergency Services. They worked with Emergency Operations Centers to manage all private-sector donations, routing millions of dollars worth of food and supplies to affected areas. 2007 — BENS again partnered with the Department of Homeland Security to help integrate business into the Top Officials exercise. 2008 — BENS held a corporate antiterrorism conference in Kansas City, with former Attorney General John Ashcroft as keynote speaker. Officials from the Department of Homeland Security, the Federal Reserve Bank and federal law enforcement agencies briefed attendees about ways they could better protect their businesses from either being harmed or used by terrorists. 2008 — Following a spate of floods, ice storms and tornados in Missouri, BENS worked with state and federal agencies, trade associations and the academic community to identify critical infrastructure owned by the private sector, and created an annual simulation for government leaders to work through disaster scenarios and plan ahead for securing Missouri’s most important energy, transportation and telecommunications networks. 2008 — When Hurricane Gustav threatened the Gulf Coast, the BENS National Aidmatrix portal facilitated an offer from the public benefit flying organization, Angel Flight, to donate the use of 800 general aviation pilots and their privately owned planes. 2008 — California became the latest state to pass a reform championed by BENS and HSAC that extends ‘Good Samaritan’ protections to businesses and non-profits so that fears of legal liability do not discourage them from donating goods and support during disasters. 2008 — California Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger signed a memorandum of understanding detailing how regional partnerships—such as the BENS Bay Area Business Force and HSAC—will work with state officials during natural disasters or terrorist attacks. The agreement provides 24-hour on-call access to private sector emergency management professionals, who staff a Business Operations Center during disasters. The governor also recognized BENS and HSAC for their critical support during the 2007 southern California wildfires. 2008 — Following Iowa’s historic flooding and tornados, Safeguard Iowa took the lead in standing up Aidmatrix, the online resource registry, and connected businesses to the Emergency Operation Centers across the state. 2008 — BENS worked with the Denver Police Foundation, the Denver Infragard Members Alliance (Denver IMA), and the Philanthropy Roundtable to launch the Colorado Emergency Preparedness Partnership (CEPP). Numerous civic leaders and organizations enlisted, creating a true partnership between government, academia, and business. 2008 — As host of the Democratic National Convention, Colorado called on CEPP to increase private-sector participation to help secure the event. CEPP created a virtual Business Operations Center capable of exchanging real-time security updates. 2008 — BENS attracted considerable support for creating a nationwide public benefit organization to facilitate and sustain public-private partnerships. 2009 — BENS' partnerships transitioned to independent operations.
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