"Building a Resilient Business: Before, During, and After a Disaster" (A Resilience Curriculum for Businesses)

This is a FREE 6-week curriculum (in English), designed for businesses. Each session will be between 1.5 to 2 hours with online support for a total of 12 hours.

By the end of the course, participants will have learned:

• How to prepare for the 4 Phases of Resilience (Anticipate, Withstand, Recover, Adapt/Reposition)
• What resources are available to small and medium businesses to help build resilience in PR, including special assets related to COVID-19
• The value of a SWOT (Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities, Threats) analysis
• How to analyze hazards to businesses in Puerto Rico and their impacts
• How to protect core business assets such as people, data, operations, etc.
• How to develop an effective business resilience plan that can adapt to changing business conditions
• How to exercise the plan and keep it up-to-date

All lessons will be recorded and be available till the completion of the course. An electronic booklet of contacts will be included.

SCHEDULE (Subject to Changes) A link for each module will be sent after registration

• Lesson 1: (May 21) Spring Forward from COVID-19, Resilience Concepts; Recent Experiences
• Lesson 2: (May 28) Introduction to Business Resilience Workbook; SWOT and Hazard Analysis
• Lesson 3: (June 4) Business Impact Analysis; Protection of People, Data, and Operations
• Lesson 4: (June 11) Protection of Inventory, Equipment, and Buildings
• Lesson 5: (June 18) “Adapt & Reposition;” Finalize Resilience Plan
• Lesson 6: (June 25) Discuss Lessons Learned and Best Practices from Resilience Plans, Way Ahead, Presentation of Certificates

CERTIFICATION: A certificate of participation from the RBI and the Center for Resilient and Sustainable Communities (C-RASC) at George Mason University will be issued upon successful completion of the course, which is presented jointly by Mason's Volgenau School of Engineering and School of Business.

STARTING DATE: Classes will gather every Thursday beginning May 21, 2020 and should be completed by June 25, 2020.

HOURS: Sessions are from 6:00 PM to 7:30 PM

FACULTY MEMBERS: All courses will be delivered by Faculty members of George Mason University and a series of expert guests. An electronic booklet of contacts and references will be included.

Dr. Linton Wells II is Executive Advisor to the Center for Resilient and Sustainable Communities at George Mason University, founder of the TIDES Project and the global STAR-TIDES knowledge-sharing network focusing on building resilience and sustainability at community levels. His work focuses on community resilience, emergency management, and cyber-security. He served for 51 years with the Defense Department. Wells earned a B.S. degree from the U.S. Naval Academy, an M.S.E. in Mathematical Sciences and a Ph.D. in Political Science (International Relations) from Johns Hopkins University.

J.P. Auffret is associate director of the Center for Assurance Research and Engineering in the Volgenau School of Engineering, director, research partnerships in the School of Business at George Mason University and previous director of the executive degree programs in the George Mason School of Business including the MS in Technology Management, the MS in Management of Secure Information Systems and the Executive MBA. He is also co-founder and current president of the International Academy of CIO. Auffret earned a B.S. degree from Duke University where he was an A.B. Duke Scholar, an M.B.A. from the University of Virginia and a Ph.D. in Physics from American University.

Bob Rogers was #250 of Inc Magazine’s Top 500 rankings of the fastest growing privately held companies in the United States. He has won over $100 million in Government Contracts and WSI Digital Solutions is his 5th business. He has a BS in Engineering from the United States Air Force Academy, an MBA from Washington University in St. Louis Missouri and is an OPM Graduate of Harvard Business School.