• Thanks to Jerry Walker, Outgoing Board Chairman
• 2016 Resilient Virginia Conference Hailed as a Success
• Special Offer from Get Ready! Emergency Planning Center
• What’s New
• Resilient Virginia Calendar
• Membership

Many Thanks to Resilient Virginia’s Outgoing Board Chairman!

Jerry Walker, CEM, LEED AP, will be retiring from his Henrico County Energy Manager job in May 2016, and he will step down as the Chairman of Resilient Virginia Board of Directors. On behalf of myself and the Resilient Virginia Board Members, we heartily thank Jerry for his outstanding support of the mission and activities of our organization.

Scenes from the 2016 Resilient Virginia Conference.

2016 Resilient Virginia Conference Hailed as a Success by Attendees and Sponsors

Jerry Walker, Resilient Virginia Board Chairman, provided these thoughts on the conference.

“Resilient Virginia burst onto the radar screens of leaders from federal, state and local governments, and concerned citizens with their 2016 Resilient Virginia Conference in Richmond on May 22nd and 23rd. The two-day conference at the Greater Richmond Convention center attracted over 220 attendees, speakers and exhibitors. With a theme of activating communities and businesses for a more resilient future, three major geographic regions were addressed: coastal, rural, and urban. Issues such as weather, coastal flooding, urban-underdevelopment, agricultural demands on dwindling farm space, and man-made threats to our well-being were all addressed.”

Read the entire “Reflections” article at www.resilientvirginia.org/news.

The presentations of Conference speakers, including federal and state officials, leaders from national organizations as well as local trendsetters, can be seen at the conference webpage. Topics covered at this year’s event included:

• US EPA’s Working Toward a Resilient and Sustainable Virginia Presentation
• HUD’s National Disaster Resilience Competition
• ODU’s Intergovernmental Pilot Program
• Virginia General Assembly Updates and the Clean Power Plan Implementation
• Envisioning Sustainable Infrastructure
• Farmland Preservation = Rural Resiliency
• Creating the SOVA Agricultural Experience
• Water Supply Planning in Virginia
• Roanoke & Resilience
• and much more!

Thanks to:

Resiliency Visionary Sponsors

Resiliency Benefactor Sponsor

And our entire group of sponsors, partners and planning committee members.

Special offer from our Resilient Virginia Conference partner — Get Ready! Emergency Planning Center

This emergency preparedness store located in Hampton, Virginia, is offering Resilient Virginia Conference attendees a 10% discount through May 30 on a wide range of items. In order to request the discount:

1. Go to getemergencyready.com to view their online store,

2. Call the store directly and ask for David Dietrich, who can assist you with determining your emergency preparedness needs for your home, your car, or your business.

Get Ready! Is a small, veteran, woman-owned business. Contact Get Ready! at

David or Michelle Dietrich
Get Ready!
Emergency Planning Center
757-224-0909
ddietrich@getemergencyready.com
11 West Mercury Blvd.
Hampton, Virginia 23669

What’s New

Resilient Virginia Works with Local Governments to Produce Resiliency Checklist

Thanks to interest from Virginia Municipal League and Virginia Association of Counties, Resilient Virginia will be working with these groups to develop a Resiliency Checklist as an addition to the GoGreen Virginia Green Government Challenge program. The “Challenge” is a friendly competition designed to encourage implementation of specific environmental policies and practical actions that reduce the carbon emissions generated by both the local government and the broader community. Cities, towns and counties can become a certified “Green Government.” You can find out more about the GoGreen Virginia program here.

PrepareAthon Event Being Planned by Resilient Virginia and Science Museum of Virginia

The Science Museum of Virginia‘s Learn, Prepare, Act Program will build on its previous climate change programs to put in place a three-year initiative including exhibits, workshops and an annual PrepareAthon event. These activities will build awareness about resiliency concepts and spur schools, households and communities to take steps to increase resiliency in the face of climate change in Virginia.

This NOAA-funded program, led by staff scientist Dr. Eugene Maurakis, will expand the museum’s Science on a Sphere® program content, in addition to adding a resiliency lecture series and expansion of the museum’s interactive features, such as the Challenge Lab and EcoLab. Resilient Virginia, as well as George Mason University’s Center for Climate Change Communication, Virginia Institute of Marine Science, and WCVE-Community Idea Stations, are partnering with the museum on program development.

Resilient Virginia will work with the museum to develop and carry out an annual Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) America’s PrepareAthon event. Taking place this year on August 27, this festival-style family oriented event will offer attendees resiliency-themed activities, provide a chance to meet disaster experts and emergency responders, take part in workshops, and build their own emergency preparedness kit. Resilient Virginia will also develop a Resiliency Checklist for families who would like to “take a pledge to become more resilient.”

More information about this late summer event will be posted soon on the Resilient Virginia website. Want to be involved? We are seeking exhibitors who focus on resiliency in these areas: food, water, energy, safety, and health. If interested, please contact Annette Osso, Resilient Virginia, osso@resilientvirginia.org.

Have You Looked at Our Calendar Lately?

Check our event calendar on a regular basis to find resiliency oriented events happening in Virginia and virtually through webinars. A sampling from the next two weeks include:

• May 10: Arlington’s Foodshed Meeting
• May 11–12: Virginia Water Environment Association’s “Managing Risk through Process and Organizational Innovation Annual Seminar”
• May 12 Webinar: Hydrogen and Fuel Cells for Resiliency: Hydrogen for Power-to-Gas Energy Storage
• Find out more details on time and location for these and other events at www.resilientvirginia.org/calendar.

YOUR MEMBERSHIP HELPS US SPREAD THE WORD ABOUT RESILIENCY

JOIN TODAY—IT’S OUR FUTURE!

Support Resilient Virginia’s goals to:

• INFORM diverse leaders from government, business, and the community about natural, climate-related and man-made risks and vulnerabilities;
• EDUCATE key groups about the models for community resiliency planning;
• ACTIVATE Virginia communities by providing tools to engage in resiliency planning.

Take one of the following actions today:

• Join as an Annual Member,
• Sign up as an Annual Sponsor,
• Go to GoodSearch or GoodShop and designate Resilient Virginia to receive donations every time you search or shop.

Thanks to our recent new members and supporters!

City of Virginia Beach Public Schools
Get Ready! Emergency Planning Center
Greater Richmond Convention Center
Sirirat Tavanapong
Laurissa Cubbage
Sandra Morse

Help spread the word about resiliency — like us on Facebook and follow us on Twitter!