Solved by verified expert:identify the crucial components of a viable “FPC 65” COOP plan. Identify a ‘Critical Infrastructure / Key Resource’ organization for your COOP plan, provide a description of the CIKR function provided by the organization, and delineate the ‘essential functions and activities’ required to provide that function or service.The FEMA document attached as coop-multi-year_plan is most helpful.To clarify….Review the FEMA Multi-Year Guide.Choose an entity such as a business, community center, hospital etc.Determine what critical infrastructures and key resources the entity provides and uses.Describe briefly why each CI/KR is important.Use Annex C of the FEMA plan as a guide to write a brief report of your entity’s COOP. NOTE – Attached you will find one example of well-done COOPs
exemplar_coop_document.docx
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PREFACE: Student’s personal commentary:
This Continuity of Operations Plan has been constructed as a first step in the “Plan, Do, Check,
Act” cycle mentioned in the NFPA 1600 for what I imagine I might create if I were a Continuity
of Operations “consultant” working with the Risk committee of the Board of Directors of
Casey’s General Stores, Inc. My intent is to persuade them of the wisdom and economic benefit
to develop a rigorous – and vigorous – plan to prepare their stores to survive – and even thrive
despite – the likely disasters of their region. Moreover, with Casey’s strong commitment to their
respective communities, I confidently believe that implementing this COOP effort would result
in Casey’s developing a reputation as a bulwark of stability, safety, and resilience throughout the
region.
My imagination took flight in considering which entity to select when I recalled an inspiring
Wall Street Journal article in 2011 about Waffle House and the “Waffle House Index”,
designated as such by FEMA director Craig Fugate.
(See Bauerlein, V. [2011 Sep 1]. How to measure a storm’s fury one breakfast at a time. Wall
Street Journal. Retrieved from
https://www.wsj.com/news/articles/SB10001424053111904716604576542460736605364)
Director Fugate noted that the operational status of the local Waffle House operations, of which
there are now more than 1650 restaurants open 24/7 in 25 states, is a dependable index of the
severity of a disaster. He told The New York Times in 2012 about his “signature way of
determining” how much aid a community needs after a disaster:
If a Waffle House is damaged but open; keep driving. If it’s totally knocked out, that’s where you
stop. … Waffle House has a very simple operational theory: get open. They never close. They
run 24 hours a day. They have a corporate philosophy that if there is a hurricane or a storm,
they try and get their stores open. It don’t matter if they don’t have power, it don’t matter if you
don’t have gas. They have procedures that if they can get a generator in there, they’ll get going.
They’ll make coffee with bottled water.
(See Chuck, E. [2013 Sep 23]. ‘The old FEMA is gone’: Craig Fugate’s cleaned-up FEMA.
NBC News. Retrieved from http://www.nbcnews.com/news/other/old-fema-gone-craig-fugatescleaned-fema-f4B11229783).
Waffle House restaurants predominate in the US Southeastern states where they are well-known
as a haven during hurricane season. I wanted to identify a company that might replicate in the
tornado country of the US Midwest what Waffle House has done in the South. I surveyed stores
and restaurants that originated in Iowa and have expanded throughout the Midwest region to
identify a company whose resources and culture might embrace such a challenge.
I selected Casey’s General Stores.
Casey’s has expanded from three small combined gas station-convenience stores in Iowa more
than 50 years ago to more than 1900 stores in all Midwest states northeast to Ohio and southwest
to Oklahoma. It is converting many of its stores to operate 24 hours/day. It has in-house bakeries
to produce fresh donuts and pizza, with online pizza home delivery service. Profit margins from
“Prepared Food and Fountain” are 4-5 times as high as for that of gasoline. Stores thrive in
smaller communities, with 57% being in towns with populations less than 5000. Last year
Casey’s built its second distribution center in Terre Haute, Indiana with plans to build more
stores within a second 700-mile radius around the Terre Haute distribution center as it has done
around its original warehouse in Ankeny, Iowa. The company “self-supplies” its stores from its
distribution centers on a weekly basis throughout the region, including fuel, with its own fleet of
fuel tankers. Casey’s plans to add 100 more new stores nationwide this year.
(Levin, K. (2017 Feb 19). Casey’s eyes expansion in Northeast Oklahoma. The Joplin Globe.
Retrieved from http://www.joplinglobe.com/news/local_news/casey-s-eyes-expansion-innortheast-oklahoma/article_ffdfef4e-ff9e-5980-84c4-8938936a6af1.html )
As a private business, Casey’s provides to its communities the critical infrastructure of shelter
and community gathering place with the potential of providing – in time of disaster – power by
back-up generator, alternate potable water supply by filtration system, alternate sewer service by
portapotties, and clearance of debris from roadways with on-site chainsaws.
As a for-profit private business it provides to its communities the key resources of food,
drinking water, fuel, basic supplies, and money from ATMs. With its focus on smaller
communities, Casey’s is often the only source of these key resources for miles around.
~~~~~~
Here is the written proposal that I would develop with members of the Casey’s Risk Committee,
based on the COOP Multi-Year Strategy and Program Management Plan Template. Without
insider information I cannot reliably make accurate estimates of the budget needed or of the rate
and direction that the Committee would want to proceed beyond this first organizing step. I
would eagerly help the Risk Committee create a COOP team with anticipated enthusiastic
support of Corporate Management and the Board of Directors. I would then work to facilitate
implementation of the proposed first steps with individuals whose knowledge and expertise will
identify a long-term step-by step process to improve Casey’s disaster readiness.
~~~~~~~
I. EXECUTIVE SUMMARY
The mission of Casey’s General Stores, Inc. (“Casey’s) is
1) to provide quality products at competitive prices with courteous service in clean stores at
convenient locations;
2) to provide a work environment where employees are treated with respect, dignity, and honesty
and where high performance is expected and rewarded;
3) to provide shareowners with a fair return on investment.
As of September 2016 we have 1940 corporate stores. We feel that our success has been
attributed to our clean stores, restrooms, and the friendly employees who pride themselves in
customer service. Our customers have come to know that inside each store they will find
dedicated, helpful, and well-trained employees, exceptionally prepared food items, and a clean
environment in which to shop.
Casey’s values are the 4 P’s:
POSITIVE: We believe a positive attitude and a passion for excellence can achieve anything.
POLITE: We believe treating everyone with dignity and respect, the way that we all want to be
treated, is simply the right thing to do.
PROFESSIONAL: We believe in integrity and self-discipline: knowing and doing what is right,
is the heart of our great team.
PROUD: We believe in our purpose to make the daily lives of our customers and their
communities better.
To support our mission, Casey’s must be operationally prepared to continue operations during
any type of threat or emergency, and to be able to effectively resume essential operations if they
are interrupted. All of our stores are located in the Midwest region of the United States, which is
susceptible to tornadoes, thunderstorms, extended periods of rain, flooding, ice storms, and
severe winter snowstorms, with concomitant power outages and destruction of community
infrastructure. Less likely natural disasters include earthquake, drought, landslide, and wildfire.
Human-caused threats (also less likely) include armed intruder/robber, motor vehicle crash, fuel
explosion at gas pumps, fuel shortage, information systems failure, cybersecurity attack, utilities
failure (power, water, sewer), hazardous material exposure, bomb threat, and civil disturbance.
Included in this responsibility is the requirement to formulate guidance and establish common
objectives for Casey’s to use in developing a viable, executable Continuity Of Operations Plan
(COOP). This document provides some strategic guidance, performance measures, and resource
requirements of our Continuity of Operations Program. Casey’s will develop a program to
implement the COOP for our stores throughout the multi-state region. We also will develop a plan
to provide for the continuity of essential functions in the event of an emergency that prevents the
use of Corporate Headquarters in Ankeny.
II. INTRODUCTION
This document contains strategy and program management concepts that we intend to use to
ensure and improve Casey’s COOP capability over the next five years. It provides some
objectives, performance measures and resource requirements to support the COO plan for FY-17
though FY-21.
III. PURPOSE
COOP planning is a good business practice and part of our fundamental mission as a private
business committed to making Casey’s a great neighborhood place. With a vast majority of our
stores situated in rural settings in towns across the Midwest, Casey’s values are rooted in a sense
of belonging to these communities. Our stores are often the center of the community activities.
Customers regularly enter our stores for directions or information about an event in town. Our
customers give us a sense of purpose in our work and can be the basis for lasting relationships in
support of the communities that we serve. True joy comes from helping others.
COOP planning will help ensure that even when disaster strikes, Casey’s will still provide a safe,
dependable, helpful, and functioning center for our communities. Today’s changing threat
environment and recent emergencies, including local acts of nature, accidents, technological
emergencies, civil unrest, and terrorist attacks, have increased the need for COOP capabilities
and plans that enable businesses to continue their essential functions and services across a broad
spectrum of emergencies. As of April 30, 2016 Casey’s General Stores was comprised of 35,000
personnel (41% full-time, 59% part-time) and 1940 Stores.
IV. AUTHORITIES AND REFERENCES
Authorities and References include
Casey’s General Stores 2016 Annual Report:
https://www.caseys.com/media/cms/2016%20Caseys%20Annual%20Report.pdf
Casey’s website, with the Risk Committee Charter: https://www.caseys.com/corporategovernance/risk-committee-charter
FEMA Continuity of Operations (COOP) Multi-Year Strategy and Program Management Plan
Template Guide: https://www.fema.gov/pdf/about/org/ncp/coop_multi_year_plan.pdf
Continuity Plan Template and Instructions for Non-federal Governments;
https://www.fema.gov/media-library-data/13891946406071a5f9a6d6557846f6e5924eea089f798/Non_Federal_Continuity_Plan_Template_and_Instruction
s.pdf
the Waffle House website https://www.wafflehouse.com
and media reports about the success of Waffle House in sustaining its disaster preparedness in
the Southeastern US. https://www.wafflehouse.com/whcareers/culture-and-history
V. PROGRAM MANAGEMENT AND RESPONSIBILITIES
The Risk Committee of the Board of Directors of Casey’s General Stores, Inc. (“Casey’s) has
been appointed to assist the Board in overseeing Management’s identification and evaluation of
Casey’s principal operational and business risks, including Casey’s risk management framework
and the policies, procedures and practices to manage those risks. It meets at least four times a
year. Risk assessment and risk management are the responsibility of the Chief Executive Officer
and Casey’s Management. The Risk Committee’s responsibilities are to oversee Casey’s risk
management policies and procedures dealing with the identification and assessment of the
principal operational and business risks facing Casey’s, whether internal or external in nature.
These include food safety; physical security and personal safety; vendor management; fleet
safety; environmental matters – and most importantly for this COO plan –business continuity
and disaster recovery.
The Risk Committee periodically receives and reviews reports and presentations from Casey’s
Management on the status of its risk management program. It provides oversight of Casey’s
crisis management framework, including its incident response plans. It periodically reviews
Casey’s approach to risk assessments and mitigation strategies with the Board of Directors.
VI. SUMMARY OF STRATEGIC PLANNING OBJECTIVES
This section defines the strategic planning objectives of Casey’s COOP program. The COOP
strategic planning objectives were developed by utilizing an all-hazards planning approach to
ensure that essential functions are continued regardless of the type of emergency. These strategic
planning objectives are broad statements identifying the desired achievements of the projects.
The objectives do not necessarily need to be measurable and tend to be general; however, they
will be used to derive the performance measures, enabling tasks, and resource requirements.
These have been selected from the list of Federal Preparedness Circular 65 Objectives of Viable
COOP programs:
1) Ensuring the performance of Casey’s essential functions/operations
2) Reducing loss of life, minimizing damage and losses
3) Ensuring a successful succession for leadership in the event a disruption renders
Casey’s leadership unable, unavailable, or incapable performing their responsibilities
4) Reducing or mitigating disruptions to operations
5) Ensuring that alternate facilities are available from which to continue to perform their
essential functions
6) Protecting essential facilities, equipment, vital records, and other assets
7) Achieving a timely and orderly recovery from a COOP situation and maintenance of
essential functions to both internal and external clients
8) Achieving a timely and orderly reconstitution from an emergency and resumption of
full service to both internal and external clients
9) Ensuring and validating group readiness by a dynamic, integrated test, training and
exercise program to support the implementation of COOP plans and programs
VII. ESSENTIAL FUNCTIONS
To support Casey’s mission, the Risk Committee in discussion with the Board and
representatives of Stores Managers and Employees have designated the following as Casey’s
Essential Functions (EFs):
EF1) Maintain safety of store environment
EF2) Maintain power to keep store open
EF3) Maintain capability to provide warm food to community members
EF4) Maintain safe potable water for customers and employees
EF5) Maintain functional sewer capabilities for toilets
EF6) Maintain incoming supply of fuel for fuel tanks
EF7) Maintain warm store in winter, and fans to cool store in summer
EF8) Maintain security of cash flow and vital records
EF9) Facilitate supply of money for store ATM machines
EF10) Maintain functioning management team to provide oversight
Essential Functions 1-9 support all of the Strategic Planning Objectives (SOPs) of Section VI
except for SOP 3.
Essential Function 10 supports specifically Strategic Planning Objective 3.
VIII. PERFORMANCE MEASURES AND ENABLING TASKS
This section usually defines each of the performance measures and enabling tasks corresponding
to the 9 Strategic planning objectives listed in Section VI. These performance measures are
central to the planning aspect of this COOP document. They are detailed in Annex C.
For the purpose of initiating the first steps of planning for Continuity of Operations and
educating the management and employees of Casey’s, here are options for the Management and
Risk Committee members to consider implementing as they begin Casey’s plans to become wellprepared and resilient for any disaster that might strike the Midwest, notably tornados. Unlike the
hurricanes, tornados do not give days’ warning to enable stores to increase their stock of supplies
and equipment. A resilient company needs well-prepared, knowledgeable and skilled personnel,
as well as the equipment and resources to facilitate the safety and continued operations of each
Casey’s store.
Here are steps for the initial orientation and education of Management, Risk Committee
members, and other employees committed to Casey’s disaster preparedness and “staying safe –
and open for business”.
A) Plan and schedule meetings to obtain input from regional managers and store managers
about plans to implement COO plan for ALL Casey’s stores: how to proceed, what to highlight,
the step-by-step process.
B) Ask Waffle House management to give presentation about their disaster preparedness,
COO plan if available, “Lessons Learned” from examples of their implementation, and counsel
for Casey’s. Seek to learn from others’ experiences and successes.
C) Review past disasters involving Casey’s stores and ask Casey store managers who have
experienced disasters to give stories of lessons learned.
D) Write a manual template with emergency operations plan for each store manager to fill
in with the specifics pertinent to his/her store & community.
D1) Use the Fire Dept. 1600 (2016) as a check list.
D2) Distribute the manuals and check on completion within one month.
E) Designate the supply routes and schedules in case of disaster for the Ankeny distribution
center and the Terre Haute Distribution center. The routine operation is weekly deliveries to
every store. In case of disaster, discuss how often deliveries could be made.
F) Introduce and designate ICS command structure at corporate headquarters, at distribution
centers, in the stores and the communities /regions of multiple stores for mutual aid plans.
F1) Develop phone tree for employees and on-call employees (Keep in store COOP manual).
F2) Ask for volunteers who have interest/training in disaster recovery/ first responder training.
G) Develop/purchase an alternate communications system to act as “back-up Plan B” for land
and cell phone system for disaster communications
G2) Give incentives to store managers and employees to get training as Amateur radio
operators.
G3) Provide handheld transceivers for employee Amateur radio operators.
H) Determine how much stockpile is needed of these materials in tornado season and winter
storm seasons at the two distribution centers and at the individual stores in order to support
essential functions: (prefer not to depend upon availability of alternate local vendor).
EF1) Maintain safety of store environment.
Snow plow, chainsaw, flashlights, tarps, boards, dumpster for damaged material
EF2) Maintain power to keep store open.
Portable generator, lanterns/light source
EF3) Maintain capability to provide warm food to community members
Gas stove, propane supply, food ingredients, utensils, paper products
EF4) Maintain safe potable water for customers and employees
Water tank, Life Straws for use, pump for nearby river/lake as alternate water supply
EF5) Maintain functional sewer capabilities for toilets
Portapotty
EF6) Maintain incoming supply of fuel for fuel tanks
Chain supply for fuel delivery from distribution center; generator for pump power
EF7) Maintain warm store in winter and cool store in summer
Portable space heaters, fans
EF8) Maintain security of cash flow and vital records.
Secure safe in store
EF9) Facilitate supply of money for store ATM machines.
Inquire whether manager may use cash from cash register to replenish ATM machine by
prior agreement with bank. Check if ATM yields money with power outage
EF10) Maintain functioning management team to provide oversight
Three ring-binders for in-store COOP manuals
I) In consultation with Financial department determine what items would be best to stock to
meet community needs and increase profit margin. From the recent quarterly reports, since food
and fountain yielded 62.9% margin (vs 32% for groceries and 8.9% for fuel), I suspect that the
initial emphasis would be on food and fountain)
J) Determine how many units of disaster recovery equipment should be on-site and how fast
other units should/can be obtained from nearby unaffected Casey’s stores, distribution centers,
and local vendors (with MOUs, if needed)
K) Determine the cost-benefit value of building a safe room in …
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