Model For Other Organizations
Business continuation and communication centers can be established at chambers of commerce and other similar organizations. The main ingredients are:
• The willingness to facilitate partnerships;
• An awareness program that provides vital information;
• A central location with sufficient office facilities where affected businesses can temporarily set up shop.
Although the South Metro Denver Chamber of Commerce consists of more than 1,700 businesses and government organizations, use of the center is not limited to its membership.
Any area business may activate the center. For the center kick-off, the chamber hosted a series of seminars designed to provide information to area businesses about center operations, business continuity practices and how local authorities respond to emergencies.
Why The Center Works
The center works mainly on a spirit of cooperation and partnering. Businesses are not charged any fees for the ability to use or activate the center. This enables smaller and medium-sized businesses, not able to afford hot site vendor services, to effectively prepare for extended outages. But in the final analysis, the spirit of partnership between business and local authorities makes the South Metro Denver Chamber of Commerce Business Continuation and Communication Center a success.
Gary Villeneuve, MBCP, is the president of Business Continuance Professionals, Inc. He is an advisory board member of Private and Public Businesses, Inc. (PPBI) and is a member of the Association of Contingency Planners (ACP) Colorado Rocky Mountain Chapter.
