Business Before Hours: Business Resiliency in the Face of Natural Disasters

Join the Palm Beach North Chamber of Commerce for our monthly breakfast on Wednesday, March 28, 2018 at Palm Beach Gardens Marriott. This event is presented by Tropical Shipping and Venture Construction Group of Florida.

Business Resiliency in the Face of Natural Disasters
 
Natural disasters, such as hurricanes, can significantly impact the economic vitality of a region.  The ability of our Palm Beach North businesses to be prepared and resilient is of utmost importance.  Come hear from our expert panel about business preparation, resiliency and best practices.
 
Panelists include: 
Chloe Demrovsky, President & CEO of DRI International
Mary Blakeney, Senior Manager for the Palm Beach County Division of Emergency Management
Rick Murrell, Chairman of Tropical Shipping and SVP of Saltchuk
Moderator:  Beth Kigel, President & CEO of Palm Beach North Chamber of Commerce

MORE ABOUT OUR SPEAKERS:
Chloe Demrovsky, CBCV, is the President and Chief Executive Officer of Disaster Recovery Institute International, the nonprofit that helps organizations prepare for and recover from disasters in business continuity and related fields. DRI serves more than 15,000 certified professionals in over 100 countries.

She previously served for three years as Executive Director during which time she led DRI to a record number of certified professionals with a 42% increase and oversaw the launch of a number of valuable initiatives including the DRI Online Library, the Collegiate Conference Program, the DRI Webinar Program, the Future Vision Thinktank, a new risk management training and certification program, the launch of DRI's premier organizational certification, and the most substantive revision of DRI's core training program in the history of the organization. During her tenure, DRI's conference reached a record level of attendance and the organization launched a series of new committees dedicated to better serving the industry's diverse needs including Women in Business Continuity, Young Leaders in Resilience, and the Veterans' Outreach Program. She built the relationship with the United Nations Office for Disaster Risk Reduction, is a Board Director for the DRI Foundation, and a Certified Business Continuity Vendor (CBCV).

She has authored numerous articles, appeared on Bloomberg TV, MSNBC and Fox, and has served as an expert source for The Wall Street Journal, USA Today, The New York Times, and many more. She has presented at dozens of events across four continents and conducted on-site briefings for government officials, government bodies including the European Commission and international organizations as well as for visiting delegations. She served as an editor for the 2017 version of The Professional Practices for Business Continuity Management, the coordinator for the first International Glossary for Resiliency and the International Editor for Thrive International Blog and Thrive Iberoamerica, DRI's Spanish-language publication.

Before joining the executive team, she served as the Head of International where she designed DRI's international market development strategy and managed its global network that conducts courses in over 50 countries on 6 continents. She was responsible for DRI's global education growth, which resulted in DRI teaching more people outside the United States than inside every year since 2009 and in 2011 resulted in a certification increase of 72%. 

She is on the adjunct faculty at New York University, teaching at the graduate level as an expert on public-private partnerships. She holds a Master's of Science in International Business from New York University, a Bachelor of Arts from Bard College at Simon's Rock and speaks four languages. Passionate about economic development and social enterprise, she has traveled to India and Kenya to work on private sector solutions for poverty alleviation and social inclusion. Follow her @ChloeDemrovsky.

Rick Murrell started his career with Tropical in 1969 initially working in the Bahamas for 5 years. In 1987, Rick assumed the leadership of Tropical Shipping, which has since become a leading ocean carrier and logistics provider for U.S. and Canadian manufactured exports to the Bahamas and Caribbean. Tropical Shipping, headquartered in Palm Beach County, operates regularly scheduled sailings from the ports of Saint John, Canada, Port of Palm Beach and Caucedo in the Dominican Republic, to 28 ports in the Bahamas and Caribbean. Tropical's associated logistics businesses also offer weekly service from most major worldwide ports to and from the Bahamas and Caribbean. 

In 2005, Rick was presented with the "Golden Star of the Caribbean Award" by Caribbean Central American Action, a Washington based organization focused on the Caribbean. In 2006, Rick was presented with the "Caribbean Hotel Association Award" for leadership of Caribbean disaster recovery efforts. Tropical Shipping was selected as recipient of the Florida Governors 2011 Corporate Award at the 2011 Florida Governor's Hurricane Conference for Tropical's support in disaster recovery and preparedness.

Tropical Shipping is the international shipping and logistics line of business owned by the Saltchuk family of companies, headquartered in Seattle, Washington. 

 Mary Blakeney is the Senior Manager with the Palm Beach County Division of Emergency Management. Before joining Palm Beach County, she was the Emergency Services Director for the American Red Cross Greater Palm Beach Area Chapter and was responsible for the local response to four major relief operations that resulted in the sheltering of over 40,000 people, provision of more than one million meals, and creation of over 10,000 client case files.

In her role as Senior Manager for Palm Beach County Division of Emergency Management, Mrs. Blakeney serves as the Operations Manager responsible for all operational aspects of the Emergency Operations Center (EOC). In this role she is a liaison with responders, civic leaders, county officials, municipal partners and general public regarding the work of the Division.

Mrs. Blakeney previously served as the Chair of the Palm Beach County Disaster Recovery Coalition, the Florida Emergency Preparedness Association (FEPA) Secretary and is currently the FEPA President, a position she previously held for three years. Mrs. Blakeney has her Bachelor of Science degree in Organizational Management from Palm Beach Atlantic University and is a Certified Florida Professional Emergency Manager (FPEM). Through the years, Mrs. Blakeney has been instrumental with her leadership and collaboration having been awarded the 2004 TEAM Partner Award from Palm Beach County Division of Emergency Management, 2005 Employee Excellence in Management Award from American Red Cross and the 2005 Hometown Hero Award from Riverside Bank.