Target: Preparedness helps build strong, healthy, and safe communities

Editor's Note: The views expressed by Bryan Strawser do not necessarily represent the official views of the United States, the Department of Homeland Security, or the Federal Emergency Management Agency. FEMA does not endorse any non-government organizations, entities, or services.

At Target, ensuring our guests, team members, local communities, and our facilities are prepared for emergencies is a critical part of what we do on Target’s Global Crisis Management Team.

Target’s Corporate Command Center, or “C3”, operates 24 hours a day, seven days a week, monitoring events around the globe that could impact our guests, team members, and local communities. C3 keeps in close contact with teams across the country so that we can prepare for, and quickly respond to, almost any situation.

We believe that the more guests and team members are prepared in advance of a disaster, the easier it is for communities to quickly recover. People who are prepared required fewer services from relief agencies, allowing organizations to concentrate their efforts on those most affected by a disaster.

We help our team members prepare for disaster at home by providing tips on how to keep themselves and their family's safe. We provide an emergency hotline they can call if they are affected by a disaster. Target also provides education and resources so that Target team members are prepared to help Target respond to and recover from disasters that may affect our company and our communities.

Target has plans in place for all of our facilities to prepare for, prevent, respond to, and recovery from disasters. At Target, we believe that if we as a company can recover quickly from disasters that affect our company and team members, we are better able to help our communities get back on their feet quickly. We also know that by doing so, we’re able to help lift the load off of our public sector partners.

Our planning combined with the real time monitoring and response capability within our Corporate Command Center allows Target to ensure that our stores and local communities have the supplies they need before and after a disaster hits. For example, during Hurricane Irene last year, we quickly shipped pre-staged merchandise in our distribution centers to stores from the Carolinas up to our northernmost stores in Maine. This helped our guests and team members have the emergency supplies that they needed to prepare for and respond to the disaster.

We don’t do any of this alone. Target has a long standing commitment to providing support for disaster preparedness, relief, and recovery efforts. One of our most important partners is the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA), with whom we share information before, during, and after a disaster strikes. In advance of a disaster, information from FEMA helps us understand the potential impact and make preparedness decisions to ensure our guests and team members are safe. During and after a disaster, we share information on the recovery of our stores and assistance that we’re providing to the local community with FEMA, while receiving additional information that helps us quickly recover our stores and local communities.

Learn more about Target’s Command Center in this recent story by Minneapolis TV Station KARE-11.

Bryan Strawser is Target’s Senior Group Manager for Global Crisis Management. He leads a diverse team of executives in a comprehensive effort to mitigate risk, minimize loss and business disruptions, and provide a safe and secure environment for Target and the communities it serves. His areas of responsibility include business continuity management, crisis operations, global intelligence, and Target’s two corporate command centers.