From the December 3, 2004 print edition of The Atlanta Business Journal

EXCLUSIVE REPORTS

A force against terrorism
Elite business group working on homeland security

Jill Lerner, Staff Writer

Imagine this scenario.
A crop duster has just unleashed a biological attack over a crowd at Centennial Olympic Park, and the state must quickly distribute antibiotics to thousands of victims -- all without clogging the already overburdened hospital system.

But how?
The metro Atlanta office of Business Executives for National Security, a group of about 100 local industry titans including The Home Depot Inc.'s Bernie Marcus, Delta Air Lines Inc.'s Gerald Grinstein and Equifax Inc.'s Tom Chapman have been working with Georgia homeland security officials to answer that question. The scene could play out something like this: United Parcel Service Inc. (NYSE: UPS) might transport antibiotics -- which could be stored in warehouses operated by Pattillo Construction Co., while volunteers from such large employers as BellSouth Corp. (NYSE: BLS) and Georgia Power Co. distribute the medicine. The various responders may rely on procedures taken from a terrorism response "best practices" database constructed, pro bono, with development talent from Deloitte & Touche LLP and hardware from UPS.

Such an action plan is only part of what BENS is working to accomplish as the group embarks on a new initiative called the Georgia Business Force.

Business Force members, such as the corporations listed in the above scenario, agree to donate resources to help prevent and, if need be, assist in the aftermath of a terrorist attack.

When the 22-year-old D.C.-based group started in Atlanta in 1998, the metro Atlanta region of BENS primarily focused on helping the Department of Defense create greater efficiencies.

While the group continues to engage in such "classic" BENS activities as helping local military bases find ways to generate revenue on unused land, the Business Force program is addressing homeland security needs the cash-strapped state cannot field on its own.

"It's a wonderful idea," said Dr. Kathleen Toomey, director of the Georgia Division of Public Health, whose department collaborated with BENS on a terrorism preparedness booklet, "Getting Ready." The business group published the booklet this spring to assist small businesses in planning and responding to terrorist attacks.

"When events happen, you can't be scratching your head, wondering what to do next," she said.

And BENS' members, a veritable "who's who" of Atlanta's business elite, are not known for scratching their heads.

Marcus, the Home Depot (NYSE: HD) co-founder, chairs metro Atlanta BENS, and members include John Morgan, president of Acuity Brands Inc. (NYSE: AYI); Guy Budinscak, Atlanta office managing partner of Deloitte & Touche LLP; Susan Cahoon, partner at Kilpatrick Stockton LLP; Larry Callahan, chief operating officer of Pattillo Construction; David Crow, managing partner for the global chemical practice in the Atlanta office of Accenture; Thomas Holder, CEO of Holder Construction Co.; Joel Koblentz, senior partner in the Atlanta office of executive search firm Morgan Howard Worldwide; Thomas Noonan, CEO of Internet Security Systems Inc. (Nasdaq: ISSX); Clarence Ridley, chairman of Haverty Furniture Cos.; Derek Smith, CEO of ChoicePoint Inc. (NYSE: CPS); and Ted Turner, chairman of Turner Enterprises Inc., to name just a few.

"If you want to influence policy, it's who your members are," said Conrad "Connie" Busch, director of the Atlanta BENS office and a former public affairs director for then-general and now Secretary of State Colin Powell.

Members fund the group's roughly $500,000 operating budget through dues. But far from lending their names and checkbooks only, members also give considerable time and resources.

Of the seven U.S. cities in which the Washington, D.C.-based BENS operates, the Atlanta group is "probably the most 'member-active' " in terms of participation, said Michael Doubleday, head of policy and communications for the national group.

The findings of the Sam Nunn Bank of America Policy Forum on homeland security, held in March, found local and state governments, already facing both declining revenue and numerous unfunded mandates levied by Congress, are "not well-prepared" for a bioterrorism attack, according to a summary of the event.

The Council on Foreign Relations estimates there is a $100 billion shortfall in funding for first responders alone over the next five years.

William Hitchens, director of the state Office of Homeland Security, noted that BENS' members bring "cutting-edge" technological and scientific expertise to the government.

An example is the Web-based "best practices" portal BENS members are building for the state. Chris Melton , managing director of Atlanta-based technology investment firm The White Oak Group, Inc. and vice chairman of the BENS Georgia Business Force Homeland Security Operations Group, said the portal -- which is being developed with donated talent and materials -- would cost a minimum of $200,000 to $400,000 on the open market.

The utility of BENS' own infrastructure has come in handy for reasons other than those related to terrorism, said public health director Toomey.

When state health officials learned of the flu vaccine shortage this fall, Toomey sent a letter asking BENS members to conserve their stock to high-risk employees, since the business sector controls about 30 percent of available vaccine.

BENS immediately notified members -- many of whom not only cooperated, but donated large amounts of their vaccine, she said.

Reach Lerner at jlerner@bizjournals.com

© 2004 American City Business Journals Inc.

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