The Disaster Preparedness Summit makes the first stop of its 2008 national tour in Los Angeles, CA on Thursday, January 17, 2008 from 9:00am - 5:00pm at the Four Seasons Beverly Hills Hotel. The one day educational summit is a necessity for any business looking to plan for and recover from any emergency situation, from a brief interruption to a catastrophic loss. Experts in the fields of emergency response and reconstruction, communication, business continuity programs, and life and safety will be educating both the consumer and business owners about the ins and outs of disaster planning and recovery and the resources available to the public when such disaster occurs. Representatives from the Los Angeles Fire Department and Office of Emergency Management will also be in attendance to discuss city-specific programs, regulations and recovery efforts, as well as resources available to the general public.

By pre-planning for the inevitable emergency situation, a company will be better positioned to protect its assets, mitigate the effects of the disaster and accelerate the recovery process. This national tour, already having made stops in Washington DC, San Francisco, Philadelphia, Chicago, Miami, Kansas City, Houston, Charlotte, Atlanta, Seattle, and Denver in 2007, is a single source solution for all disaster planning and recovery needs for small, medium and large businesses.

"25% of businesses never reopen after a disaster occurs due to lack of preparation. In New Orleans after Katrina, the number was closer to 50%," explains Steve Slepcevic, President and CEO of Paramount Disaster Recovery, Inc. and a speaker on the tour. "Not only is this a devastation to the owners and employees of those businesses, but it drastically affects the surrounding area's economy. Our hope is to make a significant dent in those numbers."

For more information, www.disasterpreparednesssummit.org includes all stops on the tour, venue information, list of current registered attendees, bios of the speakers, and an agenda for each conference. If interested in covering the event or scheduling interviews with any of its speakers, please contact Kimberly Ingram at (310) 377-0862 or kimberly@disasterpreparednesssummit.org.