Lately, a seemingly endless drumbeat of devastating storms across North Texas—including one that claimed seven lives in the region over Memorial Day weekend—has put disaster programs at the top of many local minds. And now a major local company is signing on to help America recover from calamities that could take an even greater toll.
Dallas-based global infrastructure consulting firm AECOM has been awarded a contract from the Department of Homeland Security’s Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) to provide “advisory and program management services” to its four Consolidated Resource Centers—located in Denton, Texas; Winchester, Virginia; Sacramento, California; and Guaynabo, Puerto Rico.
Per the contract, after “catastrophic disasters” strike, AECOM will support FEMA’s Public Assistance grant program, which is aimed at repairing or replacing damaged public infrastructure in the wake of a tumultuous event.
Advancing a 40-year relationship in ‘community resilience’ initiatives
“The delivery of FEMA’s Public Assistance Program will allow state, tribal and local governments, and disaster relief nonprofits to quickly respond and drive the recovery of communities impacted by major disasters,” AECOM President Lara Poloni said in a statement. “This critical work ties directly into our Sustainable Legacies strategy, rooted in our commitment to deliver a better world. Our vision, world-class technical teams, and leadership in disaster resiliency uniquely positions us to bring this critical program to completion.”
Karl Jensen, EVP of AECOM’s National Governments business, noted that his company has “successfully interacted” with FEMA for more than 40 years on community resiliency initiatives,
“Leveraging our team of highly skilled technical staff, many who have dedicated their careers to supporting FEMA’s mission, AECOM is well positioned to enhance the delivery and processing of these federal grants to build better, stronger, more resilient infrastructure nationwide,” Jensen added in a statement.
What the CRCs do after a disaster strikes
FEMA’s Consolidated Resource Centers, or CRCs, were established “to improve the efficiency, precision, and transparency of FEMA’s Public Assistance Program,” AECOM noted. Moving forward, AECOM will support FEMA’s mission “to validate, consolidate, collate, and review infrastructure projects, as well as provide technical support for Environmental Planning and Historical Preservation and insurance.”
AECOM called this work “critical” and said it provides communities impacted by disasters with resources to recover more quickly.
AECOM will also help FEMA meet and deliver their equity commitments, the Dallas company added, by providing critical disaster support to underserved communities.
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