Information about the City of Brandon such as, employment and information for newcomers.
Information on property taxes, garbage, recycling, & green cart and more.
Find information about the Brandon Municipal Airport, Transit, road closures, and more.
Learn about the City of Brandon's Fire, Police, Enhanced 911 and Emergency Preparedness sections.
Information on licenses/permits, economic development, purchasing & tenders, and more.
Through programming, events, amenities and greenspaces our goal is to offer something for everyone.
The City of Brandon is dedicated to providing the highest level of service to the citizens of Brandon.
Emergency Preparedness
Office Phone: 204-729-2239
Email: t.praznik@brandon.ca
The Brandon Emergency Support Team is a partnership between Business, Industry, and the City of Brandon to provide effective community education so the general public knows what to do in an emergency. B.E.S.T. is dedicated to increasing emergency preparedness in Brandon and surrounding area. The team was created in 1999 and continues to support both the community and team members in their emergency preparedness activities.
What is the Brandon Emergency Support Team?
The Brandon Emergency Support Team has been created to provide effective community education so the general public knows what to do in the event of an emergency.
The City and the business community have similar interests and responsibilities when it comes to being prepared for an emergency. The City must ensure the safety of its citizens while maintaining as many regular services as possible. The business community must work with the municipal emergency services in response to an incident and act as a technical resource to civic officials so the best informed decisions can be made.
These response activities can be easier and more effective when the public understands ahead of time what is expected of them. It is the goal of B.E.S.T. to have the public, media, public officials and the business community educated to a level where they will have a positive influence on the out-come of any emergency incident.
Who belongs to B.E.S.T.?
B.E.S.T. welcomes anyone with an interest in emergency preparedness. Our membership is made up of concerned and dedicated people who live and work in and around Brandon. Our business members include:
The City of Brandon is the primary supporter of B.E.S.T.
What are the advantages to joining B.E.S.T.?
B.E.S.T. is the most effective way to deliver emergency preparedness information to Brandon and the surrounding area.
B.E.S.T. develops programs that are well suited to our community. Every member has the opportunity for direct input and impact on any of our programs.
B.E.S.T. provides one consistent message about emergency preparedness by establishing a uniform public education program based on input from its members. There is no need for every business or organization to design and provide their own public education program.
B.E.S.T. shares information on new trends and initiatives in emergency preparedness.
B.E.S.T. provides access to a variety of expertise through our diverse membership. This helps members find solutions to their preparedness concerns.
B.E.S.T. presents a positive community profile.
The Brandon Emergency Support Team began with a meeting held in the summer of 1998. Bill Prosser from CXY Chemicals, now CANEXUS, John Gallager and George Young from Western Cooperative Fertilizer, and Gord Collis from Simplot Canada met with Deputy Fire Chief Rich Gregoire and Emergency Coordinator Brian Kayes to discuss emergency preparedness and response in Brandon. As the afternoon went on it became evident that not all of the representative groups were at the table. The industrial sector also includes the transporters and the end users of their products.
With the basic players identified it became clear that this group could assist the City’s Emergency Preparedness Program by forming a team that would cooperatively develop its own program while at the same time being connected to the City’s Planning and Exercise Team. From this first meeting there was already a sense of excitement at the possibilities that existed for Brandon and by extension, the rest of Manitoba if not Canada. There was agreement that a single voice and concentrated effort on emergency related issues would be the most effective.
If the concept caused a stir in our minds, the first name we came up with did not. The Brandon Industrial Emergency Preparedness Support Group was at best a mouth full of words that could be used as a working name. It would serve the purpose until a better name could be crafted.
At the invitation of the Emergency Coordinator, the next meeting was held on September 23, 1998. The purpose was to raise interest in establishing the Brandon Industrial Emergency Preparedness Support Group. The goal was to have input from Business and Industry that could assist the City in its overall emergency preparedness activities. More than one hundred business people were invited and of that group more than thirty attended.
Brian Kayes spoke passionately about the City of Brandon and emergency preparedness. Bill Prosser and Gord Collis added their enthusiastic support for the concept and the group itself. They all touched on the vision of the group as being one that can:
By the end of the hour presentation a core of people were convinced that the idea was worth working for and set about to take the first formal steps to creating what we know today as the Brandon Emergency Support Team.
A steering committee was formed and many meetings followed. One of our early tasks was to develop an identity for the group. Up to that time we saw ourselves as a group of people interested in making a good idea come to life. This can be a wonderful experience for a moment or two but if we were going to be sustainable and prosper we had to have a feeling of kinship, ownership, and permanence to our organization. After much brainstorming at one meeting, Rich Gregoire, who was Deputy Fire Chief at the time, and a great mind for acronyms, suggested Be, Ee, esS, Tee, the Brandon Emergency Support Team - B.E.S.T. How could you disagree with that? Brandon has always strived to be the best and so it became an essential ingredient in our organization.
The other key ingredient for us was stating our purpose. We needed to have a solid understanding of why we were working together. We needed a mission statement that was simple and would help remind us of our purpose. After much discussion, brainstorming, and many rough statements written on the white board, the Steering Committee was pleased to write our Mission Statement as this: B.E.S.T. is an Industry, Business and City partnership to provide effective community education so the general public knows what to do in an emergency.
Two of our early decisions lead to our final decision about funding for the program. First, we wanted to provide information to our public at no cost to them. Secondly, we wanted to provide top quality products that would be seen as valuable and worthwhile. In short we wanted to develop an effective and valued program. This meant that we would need a large enough budget to be able to do just that.
The Steering Committee decided that the Emergency Coordinator’s time would be best spent working with people on emergency preparedness issues and on the B.E.S.T. program as a whole rather being obsessed with fund raising. The City agreed to provide startup and ongoing funding with the understanding that Business and Industry would commit to providing $50,000 towards the program costs. The Steering Committee agreed and developed an annual membership fee structure that was designed to meet that goal.
Each of the contributing members receives an appropriately designated certificate of membership for the year. There name is also added to the B.E.S.T. display board that is located in City Hall by the Louise Avenue entrance. A list of contributing members is included on any of our larger projects such as the booklets, calendar and video that we have produced.
Since B.E.S.T.’s beginning in 1999 the team has been involved in a number of educational projects for the public. Many of these are featured in this web site.
