Industry leaders educate task force on private sector emergency management response
Watauga County, N.C. –The North Carolina Association of County Commissioners (NCACC) 100 Counties Prepared Task Force held its final meeting in Watauga County on June 23, 2022. Task Force members heard emergency management preparation and response best practices from industry leaders and reviewed the curriculum for the association’s upcoming 100 Counties Prepared emergency preparedness training for county commissioners.
The 100 Counties Prepared training will equip county commissioners to lead effectively during emergencies such as natural disasters, public health crises and other critical incident situations. Participants who complete the day-long training will receive their 100 Counties Prepared Certification at the conclusion of the event, which is set for Thursday, August 11 at the NCACC’s Annual Conference in Cabarrus County.
The training course is the culmination of NCACC President and Brunswick County Commissioner Frank Williams’ 100 Counties Prepared presidential initiative. The idea for the initiative originated during President Williams’ experience as Chair of the Brunswick County Board of Commissioners during Hurricanes Florence, Dorian, and Isaias.
“I’m excited to see this much-needed training come to fruition. Emergency management personnel have plenty of training; but there is little to no training to educate county commissioners and elected officials on how to effectively lead during emergency situations. Thanks to the hard work of our task force and the NCACC staff, the 100 Counties Prepared emergency preparedness training will fill that void,” said NCACC President Frank Williams.
The 100 Counties Prepared Task Force also heard from John Elliott, Community Relations Vice President at Duke Energy, and Trey Rabon, President of AT&T North Carolina. Rabon and Elliott spoke about how the private sector prepares and responds to emergency events.
The NCACC Board of Directors also met last week in Watauga County to approve its FY 2022-2023 budget and hear a legislative update from the NCACC Advocacy Team and guest speaker and political analyst John Davis.
Davis shared observations on the current political environment and commented, “We are a perfectly balanced swing state. Its why races are so close and expensive. The entire state needs to look at how you – county commissioners – operate. You guys are setting the example. I wish more people knew that story.”
Additionally, Bladen County Commissioner Michael Cogdell was sworn in as the newest member of the NCACC Board of Directors.
For more information about the 100 Counties Prepared initiative, please visit www.100countiesprepared.com. For more information on the NCACC Board of Directors, please visit https://www.ncacc.org/board-of-directors/.
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