A Santa Monica Business Resilience Forum will be held at the Santa Monica Civic Auditorium, East Wing, 1855 Main Street, on Wednesday, August 7, from 11:30 a.m. to 1:30 p.m.
In the aftermath of the recent 7.1 earthquake in Ridgecrest, Calif., and widespread destruction last fire season in surrounding areas, leading experts at this forum will present information to educate local businesses and organizations about the hazards that exist in Santa Monica and steps they can take today to keep disaster resilience top of mind when building their businesses.
“We look forward to sharing timely and practical information on how to protect your business, property, employees and tenants at this Santa Monica Business Resilience Forum,” says Chamber of Commerce President/CEO Laurel Rosen. “We encourage all local businesses and organizations to learn how they can prepare for and respond to the natural hazards facing our Santa Monica community.”
“These types of sessions are very important in terms of increasing public awareness of how we can make our cities safer,” says Ali Sahabi, chief operating officer of Optimum Seismic Inc. and a leader in seismic resiliency and sustainability. Optimum Seismic has been in operation since 1984, and has completed numerous seismic retrofits to make buildings earthquake-resistant.
A cooperative program of the Santa Monica Chamber of Commerce, city of Santa Monica, Los Angeles County Supervisor Sheila Kuehl, and Optimum Seismic, this session deals with protecting your business, property, employees and tenants from earthquakes and other hazards.
Topics to be covered at the Santa Monica Business Resilience Forum include:
- Santa Monica’s Experience with Retrofits & The Economic Case for Retrofits by Ali Sahabi, chief operating officer, Optimum Seismic
- Private Sector Drives National Move Toward Building Resilient Communities by Evan Reis, P.E., SE, executive director/co-founder, U.S. Resiliency Council
- Santa Monica Plans for Responding to Major Earthquake by Lindsay B. Call, chief resilience officer, Santa Monica Office of Emergency Management, and Tom Clemo, deputy chief, Santa Monica Fire Department
- County of Los Angeles Business Preparedness Plan by Jeanne O’Dennell program manager, Los Angeles County Office of Emergency Management
Lunch will be served. Reserve your seat by Thursday, August 1 at 5 p.m.