|
|
 Home > Press Release
Jefferson Parish Launches
Business Continuity Network
|
In the aftermath of Katrina, one
of the obstacles to getting Jefferson Parish up and running again was business communication.
On August 29, 2007 Jefferson Parish introduced the new Business Continuity Network.
"One of the lessons learned from Katrina was that after the storm citizens had difficulty
locating critical businesses, agencies and other service providers, and businesses
had difficulty locating customers and each other," said Jefferson Parish President
Aaron Broussard. "As a result, Jefferson Parish has designed the Business Continuity
Network as part of its successful JumpStartJefferson program. The Business Continuity
Network is a communications vehicle to help businesses and clients connect."
Business owners can go to www.JumpStartJefferson.com to enter the Business Continuity
Network and create a profile for their businesses displaying information such as
company description, normal contact information, emergency contact information,
website address, and company logo. This information can be updated by the business
owner at any point through an easy-to-use website interface.
On the flip side, residents, clients, and others will be able to create profiles
as well store minimal contact information needed for the communication process.
"During the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina, the major problem was communication.
This program is the next step that would allow business owners to communicate with
their customers," said Thomas Capella, Chairman of the Jefferson Parish Council.
Both business users and client users will be able to keep in contact through the
web portal. They will be able to send messages back and forth so that all contact
can be handled in one location. In the event that resident's and business owners
are displaced, they may not have access to their regular e-mail networks.
Should the parish experience an event that threatens to interrupt business, additional
functions of the web site will be activated. Businesses will then be able to add
emergency contact information, update their profiles, create forum groups, track
incoming e-mails, and send e-mails to users and user groups, etc. Clients will be
able to search for a specific business or a business category and could add their
names and contact information to a business's client base.
Councilman-at-Large John Young added, "We learned from Katrina the need to get businesses
back on their feet. This will help to expedite the further recovery of the parish
after a major disaster."
Some 70 businesses have already placed their profiles on the Business Continuity
Network, the latest phase of JumpStartJefferson program that was created immediately
after Katrina as a way to help restore the economy of the parish. JumpStartJefferson.com
is also the website that handles requests for emergency re-entry placards for businesses
in Jefferson Parish.
Newell Normand, Chief Deputy of the Jefferson Parish Sheriff's Office, had a unique,
front-row view of the immediate recovery of Jefferson Parish after the storm.
The Sheriff's Office helped businesses such as Intralox get back into the parish
after Katrina so we saw first-hand the trials and tribulations businesses went though,"
he said. "The success we have now in Jefferson Parish is in many ways due to the
fact that businesses were able to get back. Any way we can help businesses get back
and work together after a disaster is a positive for all of us."
Intralox is the world's largest manufacturer of modular plastic conveyor belts with
a facility in East Jefferson. It is part of the Laitram Corp., a worldwide machinery
manufacturer.
"Intralox is a division of Laitram and it was the division most affected by Katrina,"
said James Farley, Manufacturing Manager of Intralox. "We have clients all over
the world and we were physically ready to go to work after Katrina, but the storm
prevented us from getting back and our clients could not get in touch with us. When
our server went down at our main plant in Elmwood, everything stopped. We are please
with this program and the initiative by the Parish President's office."
A representative of small business echoed Farley's statement. Mike Mitternight is
the President of Factory Service Agency Inc., an air conditioning service company
in Metairie.
"We were ready to go to work soon after Katrina but we are a small business that
doesn't have an IT department," Mitternight said. "This Business Continuity Network
is like having a remotely hosted website that can maintain connections between our
company and our customers as well as with the other companies that we do business
with."
Glen Feucht designed the Business Continuity Network for New Era Information Technologies,
Inc. He can be reached for more information at (225) 216-2169.
©1998-2007 This website and its contents are
the property of Jefferson Parish.
|
|