NEW YORK - (Business Wire) GlobalOptions Group, Inc. (NASDAQ: GLOI), a leading provider of domestic and international risk management services, today announced that James Lee Witt, Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of James Lee Witt Associates, its Crisis Management and Preparedness Services Division, will be a roundtable participant at the 2008 Rocky Mountain Roundtable Symposium on Emergency Preparedness on Tuesday August 26th, in Denver, CO at the Ricketson Theatre.
Along with Witt, the panel will consist of other corporate CEOs, community leaders, US senators, governors, academicians, journalists and non-profit organization directors. The roundtable, which coincides with the 2008 Democratic National Convention, also in Denver, will be a forum for Witt to address the group on what emergency management issues a John McCain or Barack Obama administration might face, as well as what their priorities should be in responding to and mitigating disasters.
Witt was chosen to participate based on his leadership in over 30 years in emergency management in both the public and private sectors, as well as his experience as current co-chairman of ProtectingAmerica.org, which works toward a comprehensive, integrated national catastrophe management solution that will better prepare and protect American families, communities, consumers and the American economy from catastrophe. Witt and his team are also well-versed in existing emergency management issues, currently working with the State of Iowa Homeland Security and Emergency Management Division and the University of Iowa to assist with overall recovery efforts from recent catastrophic flooding, which caused approximately $232 million in damages, leaving it as on of the top ten costliest disasters in United States History.
"The time could not be better for us to discuss the current state of emergency management in our country, and this will be a tremendous opportunity to shed light on specific issues to our leaders in government,” said James Lee Witt, Chief Executive Officer, Witt Associates. "With a new administration comes the opportunity to make positive changes by looking at recent events – such as the flooding in Iowa – and decide if our current system is doing enough to mitigate these types of disasters.”
Witt Associates is also performing post-disaster services for other state and local governments, including a contract with the State of Louisiana where the firm has worked to assist the State in obtaining more than $3 billion worth of PA grants for Louisiana parishes that lost most of their entire infrastructure in Hurricanes Katrina and Rita in 2005. The FEMA Public Assistance Grant Program is a $6 billion federal reimbursement program created to help states and localities recover from disasters. Similarly, Witt Associates managed the HMGP for the State of Louisiana, helping to secure over $2 billion in federal funding for future loss prevention.
“We are thrilled to have James Lee Witt involved in our Series. His experience at our roundtable will shed light on the current state of emergency preparedness in our country,” said Jim Polsfut, Chairman of the 2008 Rocky Mountain Roundtable. “With leaders from every facet of the public and private sector in Denver, this will be the perfect opportunity for us to openly discuss the critical role of emergency preparedness as well as strategies to improve our methods, and we expect the roundtable discussion to be an important catalyst for change.”
The three day symposium is being hosted by the Denver 2008 Convention Host Committee. Polsfut and Stephanie Foote, president of the 2008 Rocky Mountain Roundtable, are the chief organizers.
GlobalOptions Group
GlobalOptions Group, with headquarters in New York City and offices in 16 cities, is a provider of high-end risk assessment and mitigation services to Fortune 1000 corporations, governmental organizations and high-profile individuals throughout the world. GlobalOptions Group’s services currently include risk management and security, investigations and litigation support, and crisis management. These engagements take GlobalOptions Group staff around the world and are typically highly-sensitive engagements where GlobalOptions Group is interacting with senior leaders in corporations and governments. Its overall mission is to identify, evaluate, assess, prevent and correct issues that may threaten people, organizations or strategic initiatives for corporations or governments. Additional information can be found at www.globaloptionsgroup.com.
Statements in this press release regarding the company's business that are not historical facts are "forward-looking statements" that involve risks and uncertainties. The company wishes to caution readers not to place undue reliance on such forward-looking statements, which statements are made pursuant to the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1994, and as such, speak only as of the date made. To the extent the content of this press release includes forward-looking statements, they involve various risks and uncertainties including the successful integration of acquired businesses and revenue run rates.
Certain of these risks and uncertainties will be described in greater detail in GlobalOptions Group’s filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission. GlobalOptions Group is under no obligation to (and expressly disclaims any such obligation to) update or alter its forward-looking statements whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise.
Lippert/Heilshorn & Associates
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