Chair of Emergency Management Advisory Council and Small Business Advocacy Council to ensure that Rhode Island coast and businesses will be secure in natural disaster
Providence, RI - July 28, 2010
Lt. Governor Elizabeth H. Roberts today will begin a two-day recovery and renewal, fact-finding tour of the Gulf Coast, along with other members of the National Lieutenant Governors Association at their “Recovery, Rebuilding and Renewal” annual meeting in Biloxi, Mississippi. The tour will include site visits to examine the oil spill response at Deer Island and the Northrop Grumman navy warship shipbuilding facility to discuss how jobs in Rhode Island can be protected and expanded after natural disasters such as the historic flooding experienced by Rhode Island in March 2010.
“As Chair of both the Small Business Advocacy Council and the Emergency Management Advisory Council, I am focused on protecting and supporting businesses and the Rhode Island economy during emergency management crises and economic recovery,” said Lt. Governor Roberts.
Roberts added, "I will visit the Gulf Coast to meet with business leaders and state officials from Louisiana and Mississippi to ensure that Rhode Island businesses will thrive in the face of challenges such as those posed by Hurricane Katrina and the BP oil spill. Particularly in light of Rhode Island's recent flooding, I am here on the ground to make sure that we take the lessons learned from Katrina and the Gulf spill to make certain that every Rhode Island business affected by a disaster is supported and every job in our state is protected. It is of utmost importance that we are well-prepared to minimize disruption during this economic recovery and to continue to grow jobs even when our state is faced with serious natural disasters.”
Mississippi Governor Haley Barbour, Northrup Grumman Vice President Irwin F. Edenzon, and Mississippi Power President Anthony Topazi will brief the lieutenants governor on how employers can most effectively partner with government for recovery in the aftermath of a natural disaster such as Katrina, which caused a major disruption to infrastructure and the workforce at both Mississippi Power and Northrup Grumman.
(For more information visit the NLGA web site at www.nlga.us.)