Peter Ohtaki's Page

The CRA brings businesses and government together in a public-private partnership to strengthen our capacity to prevent, protect, respond and recover from natural and human-caused disasters.  Business and government need such partnerships to better prepare for natural disasters, pandemic flu or terrorism.  In previous disasters, business-government collaboration has been chaotic – with little or no advanced planning or practice.

The CRA mobilizes California's businesses in advance to improve community resiliency through the following initiatives:
• Coordinated Cross-Sector Response: Businesses link to state and local government emergency operations centers (EOCs) and information “fusion centers” to improve communication and coordination during disasters;
• Public Health Collaboration: Companies assist public health departments in a pandemic or biological attack;
• Disaster Resources: Businesses pledge resources (facilities, equipment, transportation) through a web-based disaster asset registry called CRADAR that can be quickly tapped;
• Expertise and Technology: Businesses offer best practices and civic leadership to help government improve prevention, response and recovery.

The CRA was formerly the BENS Bay Area partnership, launched in 2005, and is a non-profit, non-partisan organization.  The CRA facilitates and links partnerships around California by sharing lessons and best practices.