IEM Selected for Department of Homeland Security Response Planning Contract

RESEARCH TRIANGLE, NC, October 25, 2016 – Global security consulting firm IEM, headquartered in North Carolina, has been selected by FEMA’s Office of Response and Recovery to serve as the prime contractor for the five-year Planning and Technical Assistance Support (PTAS) contract.

Saving more lives during catastrophic disasters depends on carefully developed, well-coordinated, and data-driven response plans. This newly awarded contract continues five years of support that IEM has provided to FEMA to improve the nation’s ability to respond to and recover from catastrophic and regional disasters, both natural and man-made.

Under the previous PTAS contract, which concluded earlier this year, IEM collaborated with all 10 FEMA Regions to develop 45 new plans that increase protection for approximately 214 million people—two-thirds of the U.S. population. The work included development of all-hazards plans and plans for specific hazards, such as earthquakes, hurricanes, oil/chemical incidents, and nuclear, public health, and food/agricultural emergencies.

Through the new contract, IEM will collaborate with FEMA to develop and exercise the next generation of all-hazards and hazard-specific plans. These plans will be more vertically and horizontally integrated, will produce more detailed digital outputs, and will help to engender a more data-informed deliberate and crisis action planning culture. The process of transitioning plans from analog to data-enriched geo-enabled platforms will help FEMA meet long-term goals that take advantage of 21st-century technology.

IEM will also apply its expertise in knowledge management to maintain and expand FEMA’s modeling and data inventory, which will result in more timely and appropriate resource deployment in disaster response and recovery. By strengthening data collection, processing, and analysis, IEM will help FEMA identify and close prohibitive gaps to develop more efficient and effective plans and exercises. With the inclusion of this new component of the contract, IEM will better integrate planning, exercises, and knowledge management to mutually support development of more efficient and effective operational plans.

IEM’s PTAS team includes firms with a proven history of project success in response and recovery planning. Our core team members, which are primarily small disadvantaged businesses, are as follows:

  • 1240 Performance, a provider of specialized exercise development and execution services (Economically Disadvantaged Woman-Owned Small Business)
  • Acclaro Research Solutions, which focuses on improving the effectiveness of individuals, teams, and organizations (Economically Disadvantaged Woman-Owned Small Business and HUBZone Small Business)
  • ALIS, a firm specializing in training, education, planning, doctrine, and program management (Service-Disabled Veteran-Owned Small Business)
  • CNA Analysis & Solutions, a non-profit research organization that specializes in operations research and analysis in national security, homeland security, and defense
  • Darley Consulting Inc., which provides emergency management training and consultation to the oil and gas sector, and to FEMA  (Service-Disabled Veteran-Owned Small Business)
  • enGenius, which provides emergency planning services combined with a range of IT and software solutions (Small Disadvantaged Business)
  • Phil Allum71, an emergency management firm with deep planning experience in three FEMA Regions (Small Business)
  • RNJ, an emergency management-focused firm with specialized expertise in planning for FEMA Region IV (Woman-Owned Small Business)
  • SES, an emergency management firm with expertise in agriculture security (Small Business)