The City of Providence has taken steps to ensure that businesses in Providence remain operational and viable wherever possible in the wake of an emergency or disaster, by implementing the new Corporate Emergency Access System (CEAS). The City's partner in this is the Business Network of Emergency Resources (BNet), a not-for-profit organization dedicated to establishing emergency and crisis management solutions through partnerships between local government and business.

What is Corporate Emergency Access System (CEAS)?

The CEAS Program is a pre-event credentialing program that allows critical business employees - Business First Responders, to gain access to restricted areas following a disaster or serious emergency by using a secure identification card recognized by the police. The program creates a bond between local government and area businesses for the purpose of minimizing economic loss resulting from disasters or emergencies.

The CEAS Program is a credentialing program that operates in conjunction with local government; the program gives companies the ability to access their workplace quickly following an emergency event that results in travel or access restrictions. By allowing businesses to initiate a reentry and recovery process as quickly as possible, companies can continue the critical functions of business throughout or soon after a disaster. The CEAS Program gives businesses the opportunity to plan ahead.

The Only Recognized Program

CEAS is the only program recognized by the Providence Police Department and Emergency Management that allows emergency access to businesses. The next time there is a major business disruption to your work location, CEAS may help you limit financial loss, retain customers, and get you back in business faster. CEAS may enable you to:

• Gain emergency access to your business when access is restricted;
• Maintain, stabilize and sustain core IT systems;
• Retrieve critical equipment such as laptops and servers;
• Preserve laboratory processes;
• Rescue vaulted assets such as cash, checks, receipts, and certificates;
• Retrieve vital records such as contracts, invoices, customer records, insurance documents, tax records, and licenses;
• Meet regulatory requirements; and
• Conduct damage assessments.

The CEAS Program enables law enforcement officials to immediately recognize authorized users, allows critical employees to enter restricted areas, reduces enterprise risk, and ensures that the right people have access to the right places at the right time.

These critical employees can quickly get back to work, assess damages and ensure their companies' viability, continuity and recovery.

Enrolling in the CEAS program is easy!

Any business can elect to participate in the program, paid for by participating businesses through a per card fee. Companies may designate a limited number of critical employees or contractors to receive a CEAS card prior to any emergency or disaster. This approach of 'pre-credentialing' alleviates the need for public officials to develop impromptu credentialing processes at their own expense following a disaster.

The CEAS program places the responsibility on businesses to manage their cardholders by identifying their critical employees as well as managing turnover and re-assignment of personnel. This allows the government to reap the benefits of the program without shouldering the administrative burden, whereas previously staff allocation and cost had been the constraining factors for government in establishing a 'pre-credentialing' program.

Visit the CEAS Web site or call the CEAS Customer Support Center at 888-353-BNET.

CEAS Information Packet
CEAS Brochure
CEAS Presentation

Providence businesses interested in participating in the CEAS program can contact Felicia Porawski for more information at 401-680-8000 or fporawski@providenceri.com