Dewberry Innovation Case Study
Helping FEMA Protect At-Risk Communities
Dewberry Joins Forces with Other Industry Leaders to Help “RAMPP Up” National Flood Insurance Program Effectiveness
Administered by the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA), the Risk Mapping, Assessment, and Planning (MAP) program is intended to boost flood-risk awareness and preemptive action through increased communication of flood risk to communities participating in the National Flood Insurance Program (NFIP). Critical to the success of NFIP is the ability of the Risk MAP program to deliver accurate hazard data to communities, including digital insurance rate maps.
Dewberry has long been a trusted advisor to FEMA, helping the agency plan and administer its myriad programs and serving as one of its largest contractors. When FEMA issued an RFP for production and technical services under the Risk MAP program, we responded quickly by forming a powerful joint venture with two other nationally recognized professional services firms, URS and ESP. FEMA awarded the joint venture a $600 million contract in August 2009.
The five-year contract calls for Risk Assessment Mapping and Planning Partners (RAMPP) to provide comprehensive flood plain mapping, GIS, and hazard risk mitigation services to FEMA HQs as well as FEMA Regions II (New York City), III (Philadelphia) and VI (Denton, TX).
Dewberry Innovation in Action
At the outset of the joint venture, the partners decided on an innovative approach: present a single, unified face to the client. From this concept sprung a new name for the combined entity: Risk Assessment, Mapping, and Planning Partners (RAMPP). Chief among our goals was to ensure that our client referred to the joint venture’s 200-plus staff members as the “RAMPP” team, without ever distinguishing between the three partner firms. To that end, we created an integrated headquarters – located at Dewberry headquarters – with staff commingled in a common office space. Internally, our team considers themselves part of RAMPP, first and foremost.
Our Risk MAP work includes processing letters of map change, flood map studies, and flood risk information as well as providing general support to FEMA headquarters and the three regions. At every opportunity, we approach these tasks with the same integrated model, including establishing blended-staff support centers in each region.
New Products, Database Foster Better Understanding, Communication, Mitigation
As part of the above-described work, our RAMPP team is assisting FEMA in creating new, non-regulatory products that enable communities to better understand their risks and use flood insurance study data to develop communications and mitigation plans.
We’re also working together to develop another new offering: the Coordinated Needs Management System (CNMS). This GIS-driven database – to be launched in June 2011 – will help FEMA regions, states, and communities document their needs with regard to identifying flood risks and aid in prioritizing the locations of future studies required to update or improve existing data.
Coordination and Collaboration: A Smarter Path to Results
On this performance-based contract, our success is defined by our ability to deliver real results that help our client achieve its mission. Working smarter and more effectively through tight integration of staff and ideas has allowed us to meet and exceed quality and schedule goals while helping FEMA continue to provide essential services to communities and their citizens.