Contingency Planning

GlobalOptions Group Opens Chicago Offices, Leads Life Safety and Disaster Preparedness Forum

July 18, 2007

GlobalOptions Group, Inc., a provider of domestic and international risk management services, recently led a life safety and disaster preparedness forum at the Illinois Institute of Technology. Leaders from the state's premier educational institutions met with GlobalOptions executives to discuss security measures and concerns.

"GlobalOptions Group is leading these forums with the educational institutions to discuss and share best practices in terms of disaster preparedness," says Cortez Trotter, vice president and director of Midwest Operations for GlobalOptions. "This is a necessary process to ensure the safety and security of our nation's schools and the lives of our children. We are looking to these types of platforms to provide an avenue for honest dialogue to reform existing security practices and procedures."

In addition to exploring the vulnerabilities facing college and university campuses, the executives reviewed and discussed the President's report on Virginia Tech. A government forum was also held to conduct information sharing with city, county and state organizations.

"Many of the Chicago area university systems are very forward thinking and have approached GlobalOptions about pandemic planning, and we felt that this setting would permit institutions to share experiences and issues of concern with other schools," says James Lee Witt, CEO of GlobalOptions' James Lee Witt Associates unit. "This forum is the first of several we hope to conduct throughout the country."

"This forum is a vital process in creating active discussions between the nation's leading experts in risk management, security and emergency preparedness services with government and educational institutions responsible for the safety and well being of its constituents," says Dr. Harvey Schiller, chairman and CEO of GlobalOptions Group. "We look forward to working together to establish best practice security measures in campuses across the country."

GlobalOptions Group recently announced the opening of the Midwest Region Office, headed by Cortez Trotter with the assistance of Vicki Wilson and Patrick Crawford. Trotter is the former Chief Emergency Officer, Fire Commissioner and Executive Director of the Office of Emergency Preparedness for the City of Chicago.

- GlobalOptions Group; James Lee Witt Associates