In early 2003 the Kansas City based General Services
Administration and the Department of Homeland
Security/Federal Emergency Management Agency regional
counterparts, approached the Kansas City federal executive
board to form a continuity of operations plan working
group, according to a regional GSA report.
It noted that in 2003, the Office of Personnel Management
had instructed federal agencies to utilize federal
executive boards to organize coordinated and practiced
COOPs for federal communities in metropolitan areas across
the country.
The regional counterparts selected the federal executive
board as a clearinghouse for communication and cooperation
in emergency response and chartered the Kansas City working
group in May 2003, said the report.
The group established goals including a multi-agency COOP
exercise, that grew to include 300 participants, 28
agencies and more than 800 action items.
The group conducted monthly training sessions leading up
to the exercise, partly based on training templates
developed by GSA, something it says compelled agencies to
augment and strengthen their plans.
“The exercise held April 29, 2004, was designed to test each
of the 28 agencies in several key areas: basic principles
of the individual COOP plans, essential functions,
communication among agencies and public, and continued
functionality,” said GSA.
It said the event was a success and that it is planning
another for 2005 following the review of best practices and
lessons learned by working group.
“We designed the first exercise to foster learning,
communication and cooperation among Kansas City