recovery

Think back to one month ago. If you were on the Eastern Seaboard you were probably closely tracking Sandy’s path and wondering how it would affect you. In other parts of the country, your news outlets offered you two stories and probably not much else: “Super Storm” Sandy and the elections.

Superstorm Sandy has inflicted unprecedented damage on the East Coast, leaving many Americans without housing, food or access to basic needs. The Federal Emergency Management Agency and the Red Cross have been at the forefront of first response efforts and corporations have already pledged more than $62 million, two-thirds of it in the form of direct monetary donations to first responder organizations.

By Mark Cooper, Senior Director of Global Emergency Management, Walmart Stores, Inc.

Hurricane Katrina changed everything in emergency management, especially the role of the private sector in disaster response. Walmart was singled out at the time for its leadership in helping communities respond. It’s a perspective I personally observed as a first responder to the disaster. Now, as head of the company’s emergency management department, that perspective helps shape our public-private collaboration at the state and federal levels every day.

By Frazier Wilson, Vice President Shell Oil Company Foundation, and Manager, Social Investment Shell Oil Company

By Jay Collins, Vice Chairman of Corporate and Investment Banking, Citi

Over the past decade, the Business Civic Leadership Center (BCLC) has issued a series of reports on the role of businesses in disaster response, primarily focusing on the philanthropic and social contributions that businesses make throughout the various stages of the disaster response process. This report looks at a different issue—what are businesses doing as innovators and developers of products and services to make communities more disaster resilient?