DC Velocity - June 2020

That was really the birth of ALAN, which startedout as a consortium of 13 industry and trade associations. Today, that’s grown to somewhere north of 30organizations that we work with on an ongoing basis.

Q: What part of the supply chain do they
cover?

A: Everything. We work with everyone from manufacturers through operations and supply chainmanagement and on tothe transportation andbroker community.

And there are somenontraditional associations we partner with, likethe moving and storageindustry and the bottledwater association becausethey have logistics assetsand requirements. Wework to provide the logistics behind the basic thingsthat are needed in anydisaster, like food, water,shelter, and medicine.

Q: So unlike a traditional relief organization, you’re not raising funds to buy suppliesand ship them. You’re more of a matchmakerthat connects relief organizations in need ofservices or equipment with companies thatcan fill those needs?

A: Yes, that’s right. The model doesn’t always makesense to people who take a more traditional viewof humanitarian relief work because we’re notdirectly putting products on trucks. We are helpingto put somebody else’s product on a truck or in awarehouse.

So we are not procuring things like supplies orequipment. We are literally finding people who needresources, finding people who have these resources,and making an introduction and letting that relationship go from there.

Q: ALAN usually mobilizes in response to
disasters in a localized area. In the case of
Covid- 19, it’s a worldwide event. How is your
role different now?

A: Sometime in January and February, even before thecoronavirus outbreak reached the U.S., we realizedour role had changed because this is not geographically concentrated. It’s not like a storm in the SoutheastUnited States or a tornadothat only affects a coupleof communities. This iseverybody all at once.

The geographic scaleof what we’re doing rightnow across the nation isnew for us. But the typesof requests are very similar to what we see in anyother event—nourishment, hydration, medicalcare, and shelter. Thoseare the things people need.Those don’t go away. Infact, some of those thingsare amplified.