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In just over a decade, WithersRavenel’s Chief Growth Officer, Mark Stephens, experienced six significant natural disasters as the City Manager of New Bern, NC. While each event presented a unique set of challenges, Mark learned how to prepare, prioritize, and respond to keep his city resilient, and the City’s assets protected.
On September 21, he shared some of the valuable lessons that he learned through these experiences and spotlighted the importance of keeping detailed records of asset inventory in a webinar co-sponsored by WithersRavenel and Brightly. Considering the United States has recorded 23 natural disasters this year alone, it is clear natural disasters are not a matter of “if” but “when.” Thus, it has never been more paramount for local government leaders to be prepared for any curveballs that Mother Nature might hurl.
In the webinar, Mark spoke with Brightly’s Raven Sykes and shared his community’s challenges with antiquated work order systems and data collection methods while the City was trying to recover.
“The lack of data really hurt us,” Mark stated. “We had stacks of paper files and manila folders. Our work order system … consisted of carbon-copy tickets that got put into each division head’s box to be completed during that time. … It really opened my eyes to the need of having some sort of integrated data and technology within our organization.”
Register and watch the full webinar to hear more from Mark and learn how your community can:
- Maintain regularly scheduled maintenance of assets and routinely perform assessments
- Keep detailed documentation and data of asset conditions pre-and-post natural disasters
- Have an actionable plan to prepare for a natural disaster and post-event recovery