Disaster Recovery as a Motivator: Building a Resilient Community

Tuesday, October 28th, marks the 7th anniversary of Pasadena City College’s (PCC) Future of Work Conference (FOW), presented by its Division of Economic and Workforce Development (EWD). Perhaps not surprisingly, the theme this year focuses on educational and community resilience in the face of disaster and catastrophic loss.

With the City of Pasadena on the front line of the recent Eaton wildfire, its constituents are dealing daily with the fallout from the conflagration. Traditionally stable supply lines are stressed as more people vie for those (often limited) resources, while support services often lag in terms of the personnel and funding available to meet fire survivor needs. In total, it’s estimated that the economic losses to the region could be as much as $250 billion, while the costs to rebuild are, as yet, indeterminable.

At this year’s FOW conference, PCC EWD leaders are inviting their friends, colleagues, and industry partners to discuss how community colleges can drive recovery and economic renewal after calamity strikes. Their fundamental premise: California’s community colleges are uniquely situated to provide guidance, personnel, and resources in times of catastrophe to avoid and/or reduce losses and speed the repair and recovery processes.

Education as Economic Foundation

At the heart of the PCC EWD conversation is the value of education and how it elevates a community’s profile and experience. Obtaining a quality education is typically fundamental to achieving success at the individual, local, national, and even international levels. A ‘general’ education facilitates a person’s participation in the various aspects of ‘community’: political, social, and economic, among others. Advanced education, including Certifications, Associates, Bachelor’s, Master’s, and higher degrees, adds to economic strength by enhancing innovation and entrepreneurship at the regional, state, and national levels. In most cases, the benefits (usually always) significantly exceed the costs and tribulations involved in attaining a higher educational milestone:

• Individuals benefit from achieving higher educational goals because they increase their earning capacity over the course of their lifetime. Average weekly earnings for high school graduates average ~$700, while those with associate’s degrees earn ~$1,050. Professional degrees support average weekly earnings (in 2023) of ~$2,200.
• Regions benefit from having a well-educated community because that status also typically reduces unemployment rates. Globally, regions with lower education achievements for those aged 24-35 have an average of 40% unemployment rates, while those with large populations of college-level graduates experience an unemployment level of 15% or less. High unemployment rates increase community costs by reducing consumer spending and lowering wages. At the same time, they divert public dollars from community projects to support the burgeoning demand for social aid and services.
• Countries benefit from a well-educated populace because their industrial sectors are more productive and efficient than those with lower average educational attainment. Higher industrial productivity typically translates into a stronger national economy. That elevated productivity also typically translates into a stronger competitive capacity on the global economic front, too.

The positive outcomes experienced by communities that invest heavily in their education systems are also notable:

• Socially, they experience stronger civic engagement, including higher rates of volunteerism, active engagement in social activities, and more apparent and vocal resistance to unpopular policies.
• Governments that support high educational standards generally also experience higher quality government performance. Further, leadership groups populated by highly educated people typically achieve better legislative and development outcomes than those with less educated administrations.
• Economically, educated communities do better than their poorer neighbors. Communities with high education attainment levels frequently have higher gross domestic product (GDP) data, lower unemployment levels, and lower levels of poverty and inequality. At the same time, they typically also enjoy higher annual revenues and experience higher levels of innovation and entrepreneurship, as well.

The PCC EWD FOW Focus: Resilience

An undercurrent running through all the aforementioned information is that those data points were gathered when systems – industrial, government, community – were functioning well and operating as expected. Those systems, however, weren’t designed to be responsive when a catastrophe hits, and the consequences of that lack of strategy are often painfully apparent in the depth, breadth, and scope of the damages that are caused.

Instead, the PCC EWD FOW theme proposes that resiliency, response, and recovery be built into today’s educational systems (at all levels) as a natural part of their subject matter. The theme supposes that disasters, natural and otherwise, will be forever on the horizon, so why not develop the necessary response processes and procedures before those needs become imperative? As with the development of every curriculum and program, designing a comprehensive and effective disaster recovery (DR) strategy requires collaboration and input from a variety of sources, which is precisely what the PCC EWD FOW intends to convene.

PCC EWD is inviting a myriad of professionals to share their perspective through this increasingly critical lens:

• Emergency management practitioners will be well represented. State officials from regional disaster services agencies, as well as the Governor’s Office of Emergency Services (Cal OES), are invited to share their insights and discuss their priorities.
• Other regional service providers will be on hand, to discuss their participation in disaster response and recovery. Infrastructure repair, utility support, public health, logistics, and transportation are all impacted when calamity happens – how can those systems be better prepared for the next ‘big one’?
• Businesses and industries will also be represented, as those typically bear a significant amount of the stress caused in a disaster situation.

The fundamental belief of the conference is that a community that strategizes responses to economic growth and almost inevitable catastrophe is better prepared to expand the first and withstand the second. Through this FOW conversation, PCC EWD intends to develop tools, understandings, partnerships, and resources that will facilitate enhanced resilience when – not if – another disaster approaches Southern California.