Ready or Not?

Oct 1, 2005 12:00 PM, By Corrina Stellitano

THE RESULTS OF POOR PLANNING — OR FAILED PLANS — ranged from cataclysmic to inconvenient: thousands stranded on rooftops and overpasses; highways stalled into statewide parking lots.

In the wake of Hurricanes Katrina and Rita this fall, cities nationwide began testing disaster plans, fearing their preparations equally as inadequate. For many of the nation's corporations, too, the aftermath of these storms projected a spotlight on their crisis management strategies.

The spotlight shone on America's most prominent corporations. But for many of these companies, preparations were ready when disaster struck.

Only two weeks after Katrina swamped the Gulf Coast, Wal-Mart (the largest employer of the Fortune 1000) had located 97 percent of the employees displaced by the storm and offered them jobs at any U.S. Wal-Mart facility. All but 13 of the Wal-Mart stores that Katrina had closed were in operation. The corporation had hauled $3 million in supplies to the disaster zone, sometimes arriving days before Federal Emergency Management Agency supplies.

One day after the storm, all but 10 of Home Depot's 33 stores in Katrina's strike area were open. Within a week, only four of nine stores in metropolitan New Orleans remained closed. Its stores supplied local residents and all who came to help, including the National Guard.

These are a few success stories in the sea of many; made possible, say security experts, because hurricanes are just another potential disaster that the security departments of the nation's largest corporations plan for every day with creativity and resolve.

Corporate security departments manage supplies to ease needs created by natural disasters while keeping employees safe. They have joined in the Homeland security effort — aiding law enforcement in disaster prevention at local sporting events and other major functions.

“Disaster recovery is the same process regardless of the cause,” says Mike Farnham, former Fortune 500 security director. “Corporate-level security maintains the same function and goal: To secure, control, preserve and re-establish connectivity and/or operations.”

An annual test (almost)

Having faced four hurricanes in less than two months last year in Florida, Wal-Mart began preparing for Katrina's eventual landfall a week before the massive storm flooded New Orleans and wiped away Mississippi's coastal towns and infrastructure.

Led by Wal-Mart's director of business continuity, Wal-Mart's Emergency Operations Center (EOC) is staffed by experts from all departments. “During highly elevated times such as during national emergencies, the EOC brings together representatives from all of our business areas — examples are merchandise, security, facilities maintenance and foundation — for the purpose of responding quickly to business-critical needs,” Wal-Mart's Sharon Weber says. “It funnels all of the information and decision makers into one location for easier access by the facilities and associates who need their assistance.”

In this community of cubicles, the varied corporate roles worked together: One ensuring that the generators and bottled water were in stock at the right time; another working to ensure all employees were accounted for.

The formula was well learned: “The security element of the company was responsible for developing a short-term tactical response to life-safety and forming a longer term stabilization strategy,” Weber says. “We also worked closely with federal, state, local and privately-contracted officials to coordinate security details.”

Hurricane Katrina was another evolution in the exercise of facing hurricanes for San Francisco-based Wells Fargo Corp., though the storm presented difficulties for company officials struggling to locate affected employees in the communication-handicapped region. “Hurricane Katrina was just another test of our current emergency management infrastructure which had previously been tested in other natural disasters such as hurricanes in Florida,” says Michael J. Bacon, senior vice president for Wells Fargo Corporate Security, Enterprise Services Division.

“Overall, the process worked well and demonstrated that Wells Fargo Corp. is on target with its enterprise-wide emergency management plan, capabilities and staff,” Bacon continues. “It confirmed that we were doing the right things in terms of how we collect, analyze and disseminate information throughout the company.”

Some companies turned to text messaging to conquer communication difficulties created by Katrina. Innovation like this is required, says Steve Kaufer, security consultant. “We often do the best job guarding against the threats that we know or have seen others experience,” he says. “Those that will be the best prepared against threats are thinking in creative and unique ways. Is a shoe bomb likely to be used again against our transportation system? Probably not. But what are the next threats? …Has your firm developed safeguards against those? I fear the answer in most cases is no; we are still fighting the last war and not looking forward.”

From Earth-made to man-made

For most companies, Sept. 11, 2001, was the first day of this war — the day many companies began to evaluate their security precautions for adequacy in the face of man-created acts of terrorism. Some found their systems lacking; almost all responded with “a dramatic spike in interest and concern — in some cases to levels unwarranted for risks they faced,” Kaufer says.

In the years since, concern may have decreased to more proportional levels, but Homeland security remains a well-integrated part of the best corporate security departments' daily objectives.

At Wal-Mart headquarters in Bentonville, Ark., a manager position is specifically dedicated as a liaison with the department of Homeland Security. Preparing for and preventing terrorism is divided into disciplines. “We benchmark on a regular basis to ensure we maintain a ‘best practice’ approach to our security business — including areas such as agro terrorism and supply chain security,” Weber says. “We also provide security and terrorism training to incident management teams in the field.”

Like Wal-Mart, for most companies “the scope of daily operations has changed,” Farnham says. “Daily operations now include the review of Department of Homeland Security updates and other informational resources. Focus on the company's properties, operations and procedures have been altered, and business strategies are now bumped against national and international security reports.”

For Wells Fargo Corp., with more than 150,000 employees in all 50 states, 6,100 stores and more than 23 million customers, “Homeland Security is an integral part of our risk-based strategy and policies for protecting our employees and facilities,” Bacon says. “We have learned over time that anything significant that occurs — be it a terrorist threat or a natural disaster — anywhere within the United States has an effect on our business, employees or customers.”

Wells Fargo's security department receives “daily updates from sources, both free and paid, that keep us apprised of domestic and international security incidents that may impact our business,” Bacon says. “Local contacts with law enforcement and emergency management agencies provide a further conduit for information.”

Establish the team and join the team

Again and again, Fortune 1000 security professionals and consultants alike repeat the mantra: Communication with local law enforcement and emergency management agencies is required.

“From the time we announce intentions to build a store in a community, we begin to build a relationship with public safety officials,” Weber says. “On a regular basis, through domestic and international loss prevention channels, we communicate with local police, fire and emergency medical services (EMS).”

This sort of communication can mean success or failure in an actual disaster, Kaufer says. “We encourage clients to develop a strong working relationship with local law enforcement and emergency personnel before they need them. When you need information or help, it is much more likely to come when you call an official that knows and respects you. These relationships must be fostered locally, regionally and even nationally. An effective security director or manager knows all the critical personnel by their first names.”

For Comcast Cable Communications' Ron Hnilica, this first-name recognition is not gained through one-time introductions, but rather through continual interaction with all the major players. He chooses to work with the first responders as part of the team.

“As Midwest Division Security Director for seven states, I am the Division's security representative in the private sector, acting as a security liaison with (primarily) the state of Michigan, the Michigan State Police and local law enforcement agencies,” Hnilica says. “I am currently sitting on the planning team for the ‘State of Michigan First Responder Association Regionalization Focus Group.’”

On this team, Hnilica is the only representative of private sector security; the other 17 members represent law enforcement, fire, medical and emergency management groups.

In this role, Hnilica feels he must communicate the unique nature of many corporate security departments as first responders. “I am the Homeland Security board chairperson for the Detroit Chapter of ASIS International. As the ASIS (and Comcast) representative, I am continually promoting private sector security as the ‘first responders’ because if it is our facility — auto plant, retail shopping center and corporate offices — it is our security groups that will be ‘on the scene’ before the arrival of the traditional ‘first responders’ from police, fire and EMT,” he says.

In addition, Hnilica, as do his counterparts in Comcast regions across the country, communicates individually with local, county and state law enforcement. “This includes the exchange of information (as authorized by our respective legal departments) as well as cooperation with local jurisdictions in providing them with emergency evacuation plans for our buildings,” he says. This can also mean the sharing of technology: “As a telecommunications company that has expanded well beyond providing video (cable television) services, we now work with law enforcement agencies in our voice over IP (Internet) telephone and our high-speed Internet products as these services become widely used by our customers,” he says.

As a recent example of Comcast Security's cooperation with local law enforcement, during Detroit's July hosting of the annual Major League Baseball All-Star game, Comcast (which has broadband in and around Comerica Park) assisted in setting up live streaming video feeds from wired and wireless cameras in and around the stadium. “The video feeds were streamed to a law enforcement command center within the stadium that provided real-time video to local, state and federal authorities from all streets and highways leading into the stadium,” Hnilica says. Comcast plans to provide similar assistance for the 2006 Super Bowl, scheduled for February in Detroit.

Fulfilling the role

Mitigating the effects of natural disasters; joining in the Homeland security effort; aiding law enforcement in disaster prevention — all are the work of corporate security departments serving the Fortune 1000 and thousands of smaller American companies. These are the roles corporate America must fill, Kaufer says.

“As we have just so recently witnessed, individuals and organizations must be prepared to meet their own needs for security and self-sufficiency following a major incident, whether that be a natural disaster or act of terrorism. At the same time corporations must be aware of the role they play in national security,” Kaufer continues. “These include securing critical business operations (energy plants, chemical facilities, communications, banking operations and food supply chains) and having plans in place to ensure these operations can be restored quickly.”

Want to use this article? Click here for options!
© 2008 Penton Media Inc.

This month in Access Control

• Opening Up About Door Closers
• An Enterprise Approach
• The Framework For Open Systems
• On A Higher Plane
• More from April's issue