Tuesday, June 5, 2012

May 15, 2012 Whatcom COAD Meeting Summary

Summary:
WHATCOM COAD MEETING
May 15, 2012
                                                                                           
Attendees: Sue Ellen Heflin (Whatcom Volunteer Center), Natalie Chavez (NWRC), Kent Catlin & Ken Richardson (WCSO-DEM), Marie Miller (Somebody Cares), Mavis Dalzell & Patrick Hurley (ARC), Bertella Hansen (Ferndale Downtown Association),  Lawana Chapman (FCSC), Charles Law (RNA), Jonah Stinson & Jared Woods (WWU);

Small Business Preparedness Seminar:
·        Date of the event has been changed to September 13th. It will be from 1-5pm at the Health Education Center.
·        Brochure/Flyer has been drafted and will be shared for wide distribution now and again prior to the event. A media release will be issued by WCSO-DEM immediately prior to the event.
·        Seminar Content:
o       Keynote speaker will be Wendy Freitag, from WA State Emergency Management. She will speak approximately 1:45 – 2:30.
o       A short COAD presentation will follow explaining COAD’s role in the community and relationships with local businesses in an effort to recruit additional members.
o       The remainder of time before and after the presentations will be for attendees to visit the various information booths.
·        Information booths aimed at preparing businesses and their employees will be set up by various vendors, including the ARC, CERT, Somebody Cares, COAD, WVC, WCSO-DEM, and other relevant organizations/agencies that may be interested.
o       Other possibilities include the organizations 211 and 501 Commons. An entity from WWU having a booth was discussed at length, but it was unclear if they would participate; one possibility is the Center for Economic Vitality.
·        Attendees will be invited through the distribution of the flyer and by reaching out to city and county chambers of commerce and other associations; Any business interested in the information is invited.
o       Chambers, associations and businesses from outside Bellingham are also invited, such as the Ferndale chamber and Ferndale downtown association. If there is enough interest from other areas, an additional presentation may be possible.
o       Kent will reach out to county and city chambers, including Ferndale and Lynden, local cattle and dairy associations, and other local DEMs. The Skagit COAD may be invited by Mavis. Sue Ellen will reach out to Sustainable Connections, the Whatcom Council of Nonprofits, and Community Resource Network. 
·        Refreshments – Mavis will contact a potential corporate donor; will need to confirm refreshments will be allowed at venue.
·        A resource list may be assembled to share information on small business preparedness from various government agencies and other organizations, such as FEMA, the SBA, ARC, etc.
·        The event will be free

COAD Database: There was a discussion with new participants at the meeting about the COAD database. Only primary contacts for member organizations are stored in the My State database. It is not available to the public. Ideally the database will, in the future, also list organizations’ available resources.

State Earthquake Community Recovery Seminar: Kent attended this seminar and shared some information. An important topic of discussion was the logistical difficulties that arise when agencies accept physical donations. Ideally agencies would instead take cash and purchase necessary items from local businesses. Kent also mentioned the importance of focusing on the basics: food, shelter, and clothing.

COAD Website: COAD has a new website, providing meeting agendas, previous meeting minutes and relevant events at: http://www.whatcomcoad.blogspot.com/. Visitors may subscribe to receive updates.

Next Meeting: June 19th, 3:00pm. 
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