FEMA offers Iowans employment opportunities during disaster operations
Release Date: December 11, 2008
Release Number: 1763-215b
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DES MOINES, Iowa -- The Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) not only offered disaster assistance to Iowa residents when communities were devastated by severe storms and floodwaters this past spring.
FEMA also offered employment opportunities for many Iowans.
"FEMA has Disaster Assistance Employees (DAE) who come from all over the United States to work a disaster," said FEMA Federal Coordinating Officer Bill Vogel. "However, FEMA also employs local, well-qualified residents to assist the DAE workforce."
FEMA has received 510 applications to date state-wide from Iowa residents wanting to become "local hires" after 85 of 99 counties in the state were declared federal disaster areas. From those 500-plus applications, nearly 90 Iowans have been hired to work at the Joint Field Office (JFO) in Des Moines and in the Area Field Offices (AFO) in Cedar Rapids and Cedar Falls.
"Des Moines, traditionally, is a difficult area to recruit local hires because the unemployment rate in the Des Moines area is low and the public sector wages are pretty high," said Marilyn Ford, human resource unit lead for FEMA. "However, this year proved to be different."
FEMA has hired Iowans with expertise in engineering, information technology, planning, logistics, public relations, data processing and administration assistance skills to work in various areas, such as FEMA's Public Assistance (PA), Individual Assistance (IA), Logistics, Mitigation, Administrative and Logistics Programming.
"Most local residents have been hired for the Public Assistance area," said Ford. "The biggest need in that area is for people with data entry skills, as well as Damage Analysis and Estimates skills in the affected area typically we are looking for those with engineering backgrounds.
"We also hire locals in the beginning days of the office set up to serve as couriers to take mail and important documents between the Joint Field Office and the Area Field Offices and the Disaster Recovery Centers. We need local people who know the quickest routes between those offices."
Before a local hire is brought on board, they must first be fingerprinted, provide a resume and proof they are a United States citizen. The local hire is initially contracted to work up to 120 days with pay depending on the position. That contract can be extended for an additional 120 days if the need exists. A local hire must go through an extensive background check during the second 120-day contract period.
"However, we make it clear during the hiring process that there is no guarantee of the number of days a local hire will work," said Ford. "It's possible we could hire a local resident for 120 days initially, but then that person could wind up working for just a month depending on the situation."
Keri Smith of Granger, Iowa, is one of the 90-plus FEMA local hires. She is a conductor for the Union Pacific railroad. Because of the economy, however, she was one of 70 UP employees placed on furlough this past summer.
"I saw a FEMA ad on the Iowa Workforce Development Web site concerning a courier position, so I applied," said Smith. "I received a phone call from a FEMA official within a week or so after I applied."
Because of her skills, she became an Accountable Property Officer (APO) in the middle of August. She spends her days at FEMA distributing and receiving accountable property such as laptop computers and cell phones and doing inventory.
"FEMA is a great organization to work for," said Smith.
Local hires, like the DAEs, do not receive any benefits such as health insurance, sick leave, vacation pay. "FEMA pays for only time worked," said Ford.
For those reasons, Ford said, FEMA tends to pay local hires a little more than the prevailing hourly wage rate in the area.
Local hires may be converted to a DAE at the close of the disaster if that cadre is looking for additional staff. Traditionally, local hires are not converted to DAE status during a disaster. Even if a local hire is released when their work is completed, they could opt to submit an application to the FEMA Regional Office to become a DAE.
There are 10 FEMA regions across the United States. Iowa, along with Missouri, Kansas and Nebraska, make up Region VII which is headquartered is in Kansas City, Mo.
FEMA coordinates the federal government's role in preparing for, preventing, mitigating the effects of, responding to, and recovering from all domestic disasters, whether natural or man-made, including acts of terror.
Last Modified: Thursday, 11-Dec-2008 15:18:09