St. Louis Businesses Lack Adequate Plans for Potential Disasters
ST. LOUIS, (SLFP.com), June 25, 2006 - A new survey of 100 information technology executives in greater St. Louis has revealed that one-third of the area's businesses do not consider business continuity planning a priority.
The report by AT&T Inc. indicates that neither last year's devastation along the Gulf Coast nor the perpetual seismic threat of the New Madrid Fault have convinced St. Louis businesses that planning for disaster is important.
Business continuity is the continuous operation of critical business processes -- including computing and information technology (IT) -- before, during and after a disaster.
St. Louis was one of 10 select metropolitan areas, including Atlanta, Chicago, Dallas, Detroit, Los Angeles, Miami, New York City, Seattle and Washington, D.C., in which interviews were conducted among chief information officers and other senior IT executives from companies with more than $10 million in annual revenue. Compared with other cities throughout the country, St. Louis businesses are playing catch-up.
- Just 65 percent say they have a business continuity plan in place to
prevent potential disruptions to their operations, the lowest of all
the 10 cities surveyed.
- More than two out of five companies (45 percent) that have a plan in
place said their plan has not been tested in more than a year or has
never been tested.
- Even though St. Louis is far removed from the threat of hurricanes,
one-fourth of the respondents said their organization has suffered
from a disaster at one point or another.
"These results represent an early warning that our community may have grown complacent," said Richard Shank, AT&T's Enterprise sales center vice president in St. Louis. "We may be safe from hurricanes, but earthquakes, flooding, tornadoes, fires and man-made disasters such as cyber attacks can all have devastating consequences."
Unusually warm weather this spring spawned hundreds of tornadoes across the Midwest. Even so, more than half of the St. Louis respondents say they do not take specific protective actions even when state or federal governments issue warnings for an impending disaster, such as severe weather.
Making business continuity a priority is the first step. A solid plan then needs to be developed and implemented. Equally important, the plan should be updated and tested every six months. More than 50 percent of St. Louis businesses that have a business continuity plan say their plan has been updated in the past six months, among the highest percentage of all markets.
In today's workplace, a disruption in essential network infrastructures can easily lead to the collapse of vital business processes. The report found that 80 percent of St. Louis businesses include cyber security safeguards in their business continuity plans. Seven out of 10 of them cited viruses and worms as the most significant threat to cyber security. Spam was a distant second (38 percent).
Recommended preventive measures are to establish backup networks, identify alternative work sites, create protections for vital business processes and develop a program for post-disaster employee and customer communications. These steps taken with the regular testing and updating of a plan will go a long way toward securing the preparedness of a company.
Pinnacle Entertainment Increases Investment in Downtown St. Louis Casino Project
ST. LOUIS, (SLFP.com), June 25, 2006 - Pinnacle Entertainment, Inc. has announced that its Board of Directors has approved an increase in the scope and budget of the Company's casino resort under construction on Laclede's Landing in the city of St. Louis, Missouri.
The Company has added a nightclub, parking and site improvements, retail stores, and other program adjustments. The budget changes also reflect significant increases in the cost of construction materials since the initial budget was set. Overall, the budget was increased to $430 million from $350 million to reflect these changes. The $430 million budget includes significant contingencies for additional increases in the cost of construction materials and other factors.
Additionally, Pinnacle has finalized the terms for many of its bid packages. It expects to complete the other bid packages and enter into a final agreement with its general contractor for the St. Louis City project within the next 30 to 60 days. Once signed, the construction contract will lock in approximately 90% of anticipated hard construction costs of the project.
In a statement, Daniel R. Lee, Chairman and CEO of Pinnacle Entertainment, said, "Since our original efforts in the area began, the St. Louis gaming market has shown solid growth and the revitalization of the downtown area has continued, including the recent opening of the new Busch Stadium approximately ten blocks from our site. We remain confident about our investment in downtown St. Louis and look forward to our resort's opening in the second half of 2007."
Governor Matt Blunt Approves $5 Billion Budget for Missouri Students
ST. LOUIS, (SLFP.com), June 25, 2006 - With Missouri Governor Matt Blunt's signature, House Bill 2 delivers a significant 4.6 percent increase in state funding to Missouri's public school system, on top of the 4.4 percent increase the governor secured last year.
The bill commits a total of $5,016,530,784 for the Department of Elementary and Secondary Education.
The legislation increases state funding from $3,767,652,639 in Fiscal Year (FY) 2006 to $3,941,081,121 for FY 2007. It includes an additional $127.9 million for the school funding formula, $15 million for the Small Schools Program, $6 million in new funding for costs incurred by school districts to educate severely disabled children, a $1 million increase for expansion of Missouri's nationally recognized Parents as Teachers program, and an additional $1.8 million for A+ Schools.
"The responsible budgeting, fiscal discipline and pro-growth initiatives I promised are turning Missouri around and empowering us to once again put education at the top of our priority list," Blunt said in an announcement.
"I am pleased to send more dollars to the classroom and provide a significant funding increase to our schools and education programs. The support we offer our students today will undoubtedly be repaid as we continue to position our state as a leader in the global economy and work to create good, family supporting jobs now and in the future."
MoDOT Exploring Amtrak Rail Service Between Springfield and St. Louis
ST. LOUIS, (SLFP.com), June 25, 2006 - Amtrak passenger rail service between Springfield and St. Louis could bring a new transportation option to a growing portion of Missouri, lessen congestion on Interstate 44 and help save motorists from rising fuel costs, Missouri Department of Transportation officials said in an announcement.
The department, along with Amtrak, is exploring the possibility of one round trip daily between the two cities, with stops along the way in Lebanon, Rolla, Sullivan and Kirkwood.The train would run on existing privately owned rail lines.
"This part of the state hasn't seen passenger rail in 40 years," said MoDOT Multimodal Operations Director Brian Weiler."The rail lines along this corridor are in good shape and aren't too congested, so riders can expect a smooth ride and on-time service. From St. Louis, rail connections are available to the rest of the country, so this would be a great opportunity for travelers in southwest Missouri to see the country by rail."
MoDOT currently supports Amtrak service between St. Louis and Kansas City. National Amtrak routes run between Kansas City and northeast Missouri, as well as between St. Louis and Poplar Bluff.
Conditions may be right for an expansion in service, Weiler said. "Population and travel is way up in the Springfield/Branson area, and Fort Leonard Wood is very busy as well. And with highways becoming more congested and fuel costs going up, more people than ever are looking for other ways to travel."
There are many details to be worked out, Weiler emphasized, including available funding, stations and crossings in the affected cities, and availability of Amtrak equipment.The possible expansion would be at least a year or two away.
|
How To Reach Us:
