BGE awards TU Foundation an emergency response and safety grant

By Megan Bradshaw on February 6, 2017

The Towson University Foundation received a $7,000 emergency response and safety grant from BGE.

The grant will fund research that will analyze how three different states leverage commercial resources and partnerships before, during and after natural disasters.

Commercial supply chains are already in place to provide materials such as plywood, tarps, water, and sand bags, and this study will evaluate best practices in leveraging the existing commercial infrastructure during disasters. The research funded by this grant will help emergency management officials, particularly in Maryland, see how different states utilize such strategies and the benefits they provide.

College of Business and Economics undergraduate alumna and current graduate student Jasmin Farahani will be conducting the research under the guidance of her faculty adviser Toby Porterfield.

Farahani will be conducting case studies on three different states examining how they coordinate commercial resources with businesses before, during and after natural disasters. She plans to analyze how jurisdictions leverage businesses during a natural disaster to identify what practices and strategies are effective. This work will add to the growing body of research on supply chain management in humanitarian response and emergency management.

Two faculty from the College of Health Professions have also received grants from BGE for emergency preparedness: Mary Helen McSweeney-Feld, Ph.D., and Nikki Austin, Ph.D.

The program, now in its fifth year, supports nonprofit emergency response and public safety organizations through BGE’s service area. To date, BGE has provided more than $1.3 million to 194 emergency response organizations, which share BGE’s commitment to the safety of central Maryland residents.

This story is one of several related to President Kim Schatzel's priorities for Towson University: BTU: Partnerships at Work for Greater Baltimore