Listed below is a summary description of our experience in managing disaster recovery and resiliency planning:

Disaster Recovery and Resiliency Planning

Marty serving on a panel discussion at the Joplin Disaster Recovery Summit in May 2016


​Rebuild Vilonia

The city of Vilonia, Arkansas was struck by a massive EF-4 tornado on the evening of Sunday, April 27, 2014.  The storm took the lives of eight residents, injured nearly 100, destroyed hundreds of homes, two entire subdivisions and 55 of the city's 78 businesses.  The small city government and administration prioritized the immediate response as the well-being of residents, restoration of services, as well as the cleanup and removal of debris.  With city resources fully allocated to these activities, it became apparent that a need existed for long-term recovery planning.  Knight Business Solutions resources led the formation of a grass-roots, citizens-based organization: Rebuild Vilonia.  This organization was chartered by the Vilonia City Council in September 2014 to work with partners from government agencies to develop and publish a formal recommendation for recovery. 












We led the management of multiple public meetings, the purpose of which was to solicit ideas regarding Vilonia's future.  The input from these meetings was prioritized and vetted before being included in the formal recommendation.  The result was a formal document known as the Vilonia 2030 Plan.  This plan was delivered to Mayor James Firestone and the Council in early April 2015 and was formally adopted on Monday, April 27, 2015 - the first anniversary of the tornado - in a public meeting attended by hundreds of area citizens.


Click HERE to download a copy of the Vilonia 2030 Plan.


In April 2016, Knight Business Solutions published a project
​management lessons learned on the Rebuild Vilonia effort and
​presented it to the ​Central Arkansas PMI Chapter. 


Click HERE to download a copy ​of this presentation.​​