The Bismarck-Mandan Chamber announced today it will host a flood recovery conference on Wednesday, Aug. 31 at the Bismarck Civic Center. The conference will feature speakers from cities around the region including: Fargo, Grand Forks, Cedar Rapids and Des Moines, Iowa. The goal of the day is to learn lessons in recovery from other communities.
“In recent years, other communities have experienced significant flooding,” said Kelvin Hullet, president of the Chamber. “With this event, we hope to learn how these communities dealt with the aftermath, ensured the economy recovered and paid for the flood recovery. We aim to uncover lessons learned to minimize our recovery time.”
The day will feature morning and afternoon sessions. Included in each session is a keynote speaker followed by numerous breakout sessions. The breakout sessions will cover a variety of topics from the public and private sector perspective. In the afternoon, a session will be crafted specifically for local elected officials to participate in a panel discussion with the invited community representatives.
“From an economic perspective, the flood represents a business interruption,” said Hullet. “The duration of the event and the cleanup yet to come are uncertainties that have our businesses and community a bit on edge. With this conference, we hope to better understand how the timelines worked in other communities and how their business community and civic leaders worked together.”
While the day is focused on Bismarck-Mandan, the speakers at the conference have statewide appeal. The Chamber is inviting communities across the state and region impacted by flooding to attend the conference. The Chamber is working with Senators Conrad and Hoeven, Congressman Berg and Governor Dalrymple to ensure federal and state issues are included in the conference.
“As the Governor recently said...about the time you thought it could not get worse in North Dakota, it did,” said Hullet. “Across the state, communities have pulled together to battle this unprecedented event. Now, we are pulling together experts who can help all of us better understand how to react and move forward.”
More announcements regarding keynote speakers and session speakers will be announced in early to mid-August. The registration fees for attendees are $35 for all day access or $20 for the afternoon sessions only. Register online at www.bismarckmandan.com/events or by calling 223-5660.