Archive

1995 Annual Report
Federal Executive Boards

Mission of Federal Executive Boards

"Although each executive agency and its field organization have a special
mission, there are many matters on which the work of the departments converge.
Among them are management and budgetary procedures, personnel policies,
recruitment efforts, office information duties, and similar matters. There are
opportunities to pool experience and resources, and to accomplish savings. In
substantive programs there are also opportunities for a more closely coordinated
approach in many activities."

With those words, President John F. Kennedy introduced Federal Executive Boards in 1961. Today, a quarter of a century later, 28 FEBs exist to provide closer coordination among Federal agencies outside Washington, DC. As regional hubs for all government activity, their work relates to five mission themes:

Communicate - FEBs inform member agencies of each other's initiatives and successes, and the local community of national policies and priorities.
Reduce Costs and Improve Efficiency - FEBs bring together agencies with common goals so that their efforts are complementary.
Facilitate Service Delivery - FEBs draw together agencies with common clients so that government services are convenient for the customers.
Partner with Community Groups - FEBs partner with community groups to solve problems.
Coordinate Emergency Services - FEBs stand ready to marshal resources of the entire federal community, whether to aid a member agency in a crisis, or to assist the citizenry in a public emergency.

Examples of the ways in which Federal Executive Boards focus on these themes are found in the composite of FY 95 activities that follows.

1995 Composite Annual Report

Theme 1: Communicate

FEBs inform agencies of member initiatives, celebrate successes and inform the local community of national priorities and policies. The 28 FEBs offer an effective two-way communication network for reaching federal employees throughout the country.

Locate and Recognize Service Delivery and Cost Savings Success Stories:

FEBs located over 100 reinventing government success stories that were recognized with the Vice President's Hammer Award program. Many of these stories were included in this year's National Performance Review Report: Common Sense Government.

All FEBs have undertaken reinvention education initiatives "to make government work better and cost less". St. Louis, for example, provided briefings on Process Reengineering, Horizontal Management, Customer Service, Self-Directed Team Recognition, Privatization, Creating Partnerships with Industry, Communicating with Stakeholders, and the New Role of the Federal Executive.

Develop Communication Networks:

Electronic--Many FEBs including Buffalo, Cincinnati, Denver, Kansas City, Oklahoma City and the Twin Cities use a combination of E-mail and FAX. Houston uses their FAX/E-mail network daily to inform agency heads, congressional staffs, city officials and news outlets of FEB activities, news items and emergency information. It is received by 150 individuals who, in turn, cascade it to thousands.

Philadelphia manages FEBNET, the OPM Bulletin Board for FEBs. Several FEBs are developing Internet capability; Boston, Oklahoma City and Twin Cities have Homepages, San Antonio is working on a Homepage that will include federal job information and Pittsburgh is developing an FEB/CASU Bulletin Board. Many of the FEBs take advantage of member downlink sites to coordinate OPM and NPR satellite broadcasts for member agencies.

Newsletters-- Many FEBs prepare and distribute newsletters; Seattle includes state, county and city employees. And San Antonio distributes theirs to other FEBs and the local Chambers of Commerce.

Brochures and Prepare Orientation Videos--Baltimore, Denver and Kansas City have created FEB brochures. Cleveland produced an Orientation Video on the role of the federal agencies in the city.

Communicate with Congressional Staffs on the Local Federal Role:

Houston sponsors a yearly congressional liaison breakfast meeting with more than 130 participants. Detroit held a get-acquainted meeting for the Michigan congressional delegation and staff that focused on building a stronger working relationship between federal agencies and local congressional offices. Kansas City briefed congressional staffs on administration and agency initiatives. Cleveland published a Congressional Directory.

Chicago represented all FEBs at a congressional hearing; Houston provided speakers for a hearing on one-stop service delivery.

Communicate with the Media for the Federal Community:

TV- Kansas City produces a monthly television program "Common Knowledge" to show how federal agencies are using tax dollars effectively. American Cablevision donates time for the program and trains employees.

Radio- Philadelphia produces a weekly "Inside Government" public affairs radio show that features federal government initiatives and programs that positively affect the lives of Philadelphia area residents. The shows reach approximately 44,000 listeners each week.

Newspaper - San Antonio conducts a yearly editorial board with the local newspaper staff.

Media Guides- Kansas City and Cincinnati prepare a public affairs directory. This directory makes it easier for the press to know who to call in each agency.

Training- Cleveland used a former news anchor to conduct a one-hour training session for members on how to interact with the press.

Furloughs and emergency dismissals- During furloughs and emergency dismissals many FEBs communicate with the media for federal agencies; this year the Executive Director in Portand conducted 12 television interviews. (Honolulu, San Antonio, Buffalo, Newark, Oklahoma City, St. Louis, Twin Cities, Portland and Pittsburgh).

Hold Awards Programs:

All FEBs held Public Employee Recognition Week and Hammer Award programs; attendance averaged 300-500. Many used innovative methods to spark interest such as a Celebrity Master of Ceremonies (Los Angeles, San Francisco, Houston, San Antonio, Buffalo, Philadelphia and Cleveland), or a panel of experts from media, corporations, congressional staffs, charitable organizations or local government to choose winners (Buffalo, Pittsburgh, Atlanta, Oklahoma City). Most FEBs obtain press for awards ceremonies; Newark obtained TV interviews for their six Public Employee Recognition Week award winners.

Theme 2: Reduce Costs & Improve Efficiency

FEBs have a variety of initiatives in place to reduce costs for member agencies:

Offer No Cost/Low Cost Training to Meet Common Needs:

Several FEBs have very active Common Needs T raining and Conference Programs. They estimate the no-cost/lowcost training they offer saves agencies tuition cost that amount to approximately $30 0,000 to $500,000 per year (San Antonio, Denver, Houston, Buffalo) and keeps agencies up-to-date on current issues. Some of the most popular courses offered by FEBs last year include: A High Tech Government and the Changing Role of the Manager, The Internet, Quality, Customer Service, Labor/Management Partnerships, Secretarial Training, Personnel Management, Team Building, Facilitator Training, and How to Conduct Meetings.

Innovative Cost Savings--Twin Cities pooled agency downlink sites to offer over 60 courses for more than 1,100 employees. Los Angeles established an Memorandum of Understanding with the Long Beach VA Regional Medical Education Center to develop executive training and core curriculum courses for FEB members. St. Louis established a free hotline so agencies can use empty training slots. Pittsburgh focused on "no-cost" training by using federal course instructors. Portland partnered with state and city governments through the Oregon Option to offer training courses to federal employees. Honolulu and Philadelphia partnered with other organizations to hold quality conferences. And Cleveland developed a training directory for member agencies.

Offer Leadership Training and Retreats for Field Executives:

Leadership Programs--To develop the skills of mid-career managers, Seattle, San Francisco and San Antonio offer Leadership Development Programs for mid-career employees. These FEBs report leadership program participants work on a variety of inter-agency projects, such as, improving communications with state and local governments and developing emergency preparedness plans. Each year San Antonio has 35 participants who learn about their community, state and local government during the 9 months of the program. Graduates serve on the board of directors of community agencies like the United Way. In addition, Portland sponsored 11 employees in Public Administration training usually attended by state and local employees.

Executive Training Retreats--Many FEBs held leadership or executive retreats; St. Louis and Kansas City, Los Angeles and San Francisco held joint retreats.

Organize Special Initiatives to Reduce Costs and Maximize Savings:

Combined Administrative Support Units and Memorandums of Understanding-- San Antonio worked to encourage participation in the CASU and estimates cost avoidance this year at $500,000. Twin Cities estimates their CASU saved $450,000; and Pittsburgh puts savings at $1million. Dallas has just opened a CASU and expects significant savings. Houston provided opportunities for agencies to share costs in printing material and job sharing. Oklahoma City coordinated an interagency partnership to duplicating facilities, space, equipment and combining purchasing power.

Procurement Reform Education--Denver formed an Acquisition Council to inform agencies of the new procurement streamlining laws and to conduct training on the laws. Training included IMPACT Card, Contractor Past Performance Evaluation Requirements, Improving Government-Industry Communications, and Federal Aviation Administration initiatives.

Alternative Dispute Resolution Programs--FEBs with active programs are reporting impressive savings. In Seattle, The Mediation Consortium i nc ludes 25 federal agencies (including DOD), the City of Seattle, King Count y and the Port of Seattle. Last year the consortium handled 46 mediations, resolving 87% of them. They estimate cost savings from a minimum of $5,000 to a maximum of $100,000 per case depending on the level at which the case is resolved. The Seattle FEB has shared the model with five other FEBs and coordinates a quarterly conference call with these sites. St. Louis trained 45 mediators at minimal cost, and estimates first year savings of $150,000. Their mediators have resolved 22 cases for 6 agencies with an 89% success rate. Several FEBs, including Dallas, Pittsburgh and Honolulu have just completed training.

Provide Low Cost Career Transition Assistance:

The President's Executive Order on Career Transition asked FEBs to play an important role in this initiative. Some FEBs have begun to take a very proactive role: Portland arranged for conversion of a job placement center to a career transition center and conducted orientation sessions for agency staff when it opened in January 1996. They profiled employment, career/financial counseling and self-employment services. Oklahoma City is also coordinating a one stop job search center which houses the Oklahoma State Employment Commission, Oklahoma County Joint Partnership and Training Act, and OPM job search touch screen information center. Seattle, Oklahoma City, Kansas City, San Francisco and Pittsburgh have set up Career Transition Assistance Programs. New York initiated a downsizing task force to look at technology, hold classes on resume writing, etc, and inventory soft landing aids to avoid duplication among member agencies. Denver is working with the State to set up assistance and retraining.

Facilitate Placement of Displaced Federal Workers:

Several FE Bs have been successful in placing federal workers in jobs. In conjunction with the Federal Personnel Council, the Denver FEB spearheaded a drive to place 680 of the 700 federal employees displaced from Lowry Air Force Base; St. Louis helped place 100 federal employees; Twin Cities maintains an outplacement database that has helped 7 clerical employees find jobs, and Newark has placed 20 employees.

Develop Guides to Aid in Service Delivery for Members and Stakeholders:

Many FEBs assisted member agencies by preparing guides that made inter-agency services easily accessible:
In St. Louis, local agencies reported FY'95 savings of more than $63,000 by using the facilities, people, equipment and services offered in their Resource Sharing Guide (Boston, St. Louis, Pittsburgh). Boston also put their guide on the internet http://204.96.146.119./febindex.htm.
Denver provides member agencies with a Conference Guide that lists no cost conferencing options, space, teleconferencing capability, audiovisual equipment and translator/interpreter services. It also includes ADA accessible hotels/motels.
Baltimore, Newark and San Antonio prepared Education Assistance Guides. They included computer, mentoring and speaking needs and resources.
Membership Directories (Detroit, Oklahoma City, Newark, San Antonio, San Francisco), the Oklahoma City Directory proved invaluable following the bombing. It was the only up-to-date listing of agencies housed in the bombed building. San Francisco recently expanded its directory to include e-mail addresses.
Other guides include: Speaker's Resource Guide (Denver and Pittsburgh), Training Directory (Cleveland), Congressional Directory (Cleveland), Media Guide (Kansas City and Cincinnati) and School Age Child Facts and Tips for Parents (New York).

Support Resource Conservation:

Recycling--Houston coordinates the interagency rec ycling program which saved 2,000 trees, 350 barrels of oil, and 800,000 gallons of w ater. Kansas City issued an FEB Recycler Newsletter, prepared a video on recycling, participated in Earth Day, had a booth at the National Recycling Conference, and provided judges and savings bonds to the student winners with the best conservation or increased energy use at the Greater Kansas City Science and Engineering Fair.
Transportation--St. Louis co-sponsored Ride Share which resulted in 400 federal employees forming car and van pools and Los Angeles located a County Transportation Information Kiosk in the Federal Building.

Conduct Initiatives to Improve the Quality of Life for Federal Employees:

Education--Kansas City organized college fairs for federal employees interested in pursuing additional training and education.

Financial Planning/Retirement-- FEBs including Dallas, Seattle, Portland, Houston, Pittsburgh, Cincinnati, Baltimore, and Cleveland held pre-retirement/buyout courses.

Health--Cincinnati, Cleveland and Pittsburgh held health fairs with up to 3,000 participants. Many FEBs held a variety of health programs including Stress Management, Wellness, Coping With Pain, Mammography screenings and CPR training.

Parenting--New York held these classes as a result of a Census Bureau report that indicated New York City had the largest percentage of single parent families in the country. Five federal agencies pooled resources to create a Working Family Institute. They held 13 classes for federal employees with 325 attendees.

Telecommuting Initiatives--Many FEBs encouraged telecommuting, held Telecommute America fairs and flexi-week open houses (Denver, Pittsburgh, Baltimore, Los Angeles, New York, Chicago and Seattle).

Unemployment Compensation Furlough Initiatives--Many FEBs provided information to agencies and coordinated with the responsible state agency. (Denver, Honolulu, Chicago, Baltimore, Twin Cities, Kansas City, Pittsburgh, Dallas,and Oklahoma City).

Offer Special Emphasis Programs:

Unity Day Celebrations, Conferences and Training Sessions--Many FEBs have very active special emphasis programs and committees. They hold monthly luncheons and seminars to inform and educate minority groups--Women, Hispanic, Black, Asian American, Native American and Disabled. Other FEBs are recognizing that it is effective to honor all minority groups at a single ceremony. They report that it not only saves employee time and agency money but develops more harmonious and truly diverse celebrations and training programs (Atlanta, Cleveland, Kansas City, New Orleans, Chicago, Twin Cities, Baltimore and Newark).

Initiatives to Assist the Disabled--St. Louis provides disabled employees with state-of- the-art assistive technology through their TARGET Center. It is the first center outside DC that is a partnership of federal, state, and local organ izations. Since opening in April, more than 100 demonstrations have been conducted. The FEB hopes to extend services to the private sector. New York co-sponsored a career day for clients of the National Center for Disability Services; 200 clients had employment interviews with 12 federal agencies to be interviewed for possible employment. In FY 95 Social Security hired 21 disabled individuals as a direct result of the FEB activities. Cincinnati held disability awareness training and produced a newsletter about working with disabled employees.

Special Emphasis Skills Training--FEBs held classes such as EEO Counselor Training, Supervising the Disabled and Sign Language Classes.

Theme 3: Facilitate Service Delivery

FEBs draw together agencies with common clients so that government services are convenient for customers.

Improve Service Delivery:

FEBs piloted service delivery innovations contained in the President's Management Council Study of Federal Field Structures to improve customer service.

Technology Initiatives--Dallas and Philadelphia are developing Internet sites that will interlace government service information. They a re working with state, county, and municipal governments. Dallas is also research ing development of one-stop shopping kiosks. The Denver FEB supports Project Colorado, an interagency/intergovernmental/ private sector touch screen kiosk system approach to one-stop shopping for government services and helps sponsor the Project's yearly Service to the Citizen Conference. Attendance at the Conference exceeds 2,000 national and international participants. The Denver FEB also works with agencies on a joint project to improve customer access to recreation areas including National and State Parks via Internet.

One Stop Shopping--

For Businesses--Houston opened the first US General Store for Small Businesses, which is a partnership of 30 federal, state and local government agencies to provide information and services to businesses. Since opening in July, they have had over 3,000 customers. In partnership with their Enterprise Communities, Boston and Kansas City have recently opened stores. Buffalo has a One-Stop Business Assistance Center sponsored by IRS, SBA, HUD, VA, United Way and the New York Department of Finance and Taxation.

For Individuals--Baltimore developed a business plan and held a conference to establish the feasibility of a government one-stop shopping store G-Mart. They found that technology would be a better alternative. In Portland, the Forest Service, Bureau of Land Management and Oregon State Agencies have joined forces to offer a one-stop store for recreational land use called the Nature of the NW. In Atlanta, the FEB is involved in the one-stop center for tourists to the '96 Olympics.

Telephone Access to Government Services--Th e Denver FEB worked with member agencies and US West to revamp the Frequen tly Called Section of the Denver Telephone Directory. This FEB initiative "to list services not organizations" touched off a nationwide GSA/NPR telephone listing improvement project. Houston prepared an interagency directory of services available for agencies to use for information and referral. And Cincinnati published a "Who To Call" two-fold, six-panel listing of phone numbers for congressional, federal, state, county, city and general services available to citizens.

Lead Service Delivery Partnerships:

Through Partnership Minnesota, the Twin Cities FEB brings together key agencies, customers, stakeholders, and state/local partners to explore issues. This dialogue creates improved service for customers. For example, IRS and the Minnesota Department of Revenue routinely share tax compliance information. Partnership Minnesota has recognized more than 80 partnerships from around the state at an annual conference attended by 200 federal, state, local and non-profit organizations.

Atlanta is working with the Atlanta Project to provide comprehensive assistance to families including the Georgia Common Access Form, a universal application for benefits form that is accepted by federal, state and local agencies. It is estimated that joint use of the form saves $11.52 per intake application.

Detroit holds quarterly meetings with the Mayor's representative to identify issues of mutual interest to federal agencies and city government. Such as a combined federal/city sponsored garage sale for disposing of excess property.

I n Portland, local agency heads participate in the NW Economic Adjustment Initiative and the FEB has formed the Oregon Options Ad hoc committee in partnership with the Governor's Office. The FEB is now the primary point of contact for state agencies regarding federal programs.

Support Empowerment Zone/Enterprise Community Initiatives:

Houston serves on the Enterprise Zone Governing Board; Newark assisted in the local application process; Philadelphia is working with the Empowerment Zone to donate surplus property to the city; and Atlanta is working to improve services and co-locate programs.

Inform Citizens of Federal Services Available:

Several foster public awareness of federal services by setting up mall displays during Public Employee Recognition Week (New Orleans, Chicago, Atlanta, Newark, and Cincinnati). Twin Cities also used cultural, ethnic and employment-oriented community events to inform the community of federal programs and employment opportunities, such as Cinco de Mayo and NAACP, City Fair, and Juneteenth City-wide Celebration Informational Booth. In Dallas, the FEB co-hosts a reception with INS for new citizens at the swearing-in ceremonies.

Inform the Community of Regulatory Reform Initiatives:

San Antonio briefs city, county, and Chambers of Commerce officials on reinvention activities. They have extended an open invitation to help in revising federal regulations that may be burdensome to local efforts to improve government. Houston held a One-Stop Compliance Seminar for Small Businesses.

Help Create Jobs in the Community:

The Balti more FEB has assisted in converting the Fort Meade military airfield to a local government general aviation airfield. Jobs will be created to include other types of aviation-related business. Members of the San Francisco FEB are actively involved in developing re-use plans for two major bases that are scheduled to close.

Assist Businesses in Securing Government Contracts:

Phil adelphia, St. Louis, Chic ago and Pittsburgh sponsor ed or co-sponsored procurement conferences, breakfasts and luncheons. Cincinnati he ld its 17th Annual Procurement Conference; 50 prime contractors and 100 minority subc ontractors attended. Contracts awarded totalled $217,000,000. St. Louis held a similar conference and 36 of the 250 businesses that attended received contracts. Kansas City, St. Louis, Philadelphia, and San Antonio developed directories of federal procurement opportunities to assist small businesses in more easily obtaining federal contracts.

Support Veterans:

Sev eral FEBs have Veterans' Committees and hav e supported Veterans' stand downs (Education Days). St. Louis, in conjunction with Ve terans' organizations, conducted a one-day stand down that provided medical, l egal counseling, employment services and food and clothing to 163 participants; many of whom were homeless. They also distributed a 135 page Veteran's Service Directory. In Seattle they also used a Veterans' stand down to inform congressional representatives about concerns in the veterans communities. It was co-sponsored by county and state veterans agencies and was well received by veterans.

Theme 4: Partner with Community Groups

FEBs help solve community problems.

Join Business Associations, Chambers, etc:

Several FEBs including Chicago and Pittsburgh belong to the Chamber of Commerce. In Dallas the GSA manager represents the FEB on the Central Dallas Business District, an organization established to invigorate the downtown area. The FEB in Pittsburgh sponsored participation of their Chairperson in the Chamber's Leadership Program.

Conduct Education Initiatives:

Develop Goals 2000 Programs--The San Antonio FEB founded Project Satisfy to survey area schools to determine unmet needs, and match federal, corporate and community providers with schools expressing needs. For the past two years, the FEB has met at least one need of 97% of the schools responding, including 900 surplus computers, 150 modems, numerous library books, classroom aids, and physical education equipment. Cost avoidance to taxpayers is estimated to be $225,000. Baltimore promoted a variety of education i nitiatives including a scholarship program, provid ed a catalog of initiatives that could benefit students, maintained an interagency speakers bureau, encouraged each agency in Maryland to adopt a school and provided drug education to three schools. San Francisco also developed a "How To" partnership guide to help agencies partner with schools.

Initiate Volunteer Efforts--The Kansas City Public/Federal Partnership involves 19 schools and reaches 71,000 students. Portland and San Antonio surveyed school needs to determine desired youth training activities and match those to member agency programs. Houston in conjunction with IMAGE established a mentoring program; over 200 students participated in the program. It includes a peer pyramid teams of students with federal managers. Atlanta co-sponsors a leadership development program for youth ages 12 to 16, especially African-American males. Detroit identifies volunteers as adult literacy trainers to work with the local county literacy councils. Dallas has partnerships with three schools which includes federal employees as mentors, pen pals and they hold a Christmas Program. Chicago and Newark provide speakers to schools.

Donate Technology--Philadelphia transferred 250 WordPerfect licenses and 65 computers to schools, while San Antonio transferred 900 surplus computers.

Hold Contests and Award Scholarships--Baltimore, New Orleans, San Antonio and Kansas City have annual scholarships. Pittsburgh holds essay and art contests to promote multi-cultural awareness.

Promote Grammar and High School Career Awareness--Many FEBs support summer employment programs, career and stay-in-school programs. Buffalo has gone one step further by combining involvement in the City Summer Youth Program, which employs disadvantaged youth for six weeks each summer break, with an active education program of FEB-sponsored workshops in non-violent problem resolution, AIDS Information, Drug Awareness, Diversity Training, and Money Management.

FEBs are also involved in bringing awareness of fe deral career opportunities to students. Houston held a one-day Youth Forum that attracted several thousand students. Dallas held a Federal Career Awareness Day. Phi ladelphia, New Orleans and New York support a city-wide shadowing day through the Chamber of Commerce and Board of Education. Chicago established a Youth Entrepreneurial Development Subcommittee to match student entrepreneurs with business owners who could serve as mentors. Denver adopted a youth center which teaches young women to develop decision-making, organizational and human relations skills. And Twin Cities has an on-going relationship with Junior Achievement programs.

Partner with Universities--Houston places 100 interns each year, and has created a real win-win for agencies and students. Agencies use the students in technical and staff positions and students obtain real world experience. New York City works with the New York University School of Public Service to develop the curriculum for the their Women in Management Institute. This institute is offered twice yearly and is open to 30 graduate students and mid-level managers from federal, state city and non-profit organizations.

Other Innovative Activities--Atlanta co-sponsored P.L.A.Y. Day. Private organizations including NIKE and various public sponsors organized a day of sports events and offered immunizations as well as other fitness information and a Youth Passport, a Polaroid picture and fingerprints for each child, in case the child is lost or kidnapped. As part of their initiative to support Single Parent Families, New York helped an organization obtain funding to conduct training for providers of after school-care.

Support Charitable Activities:

Combined Federal Campaign--All FEBs help coordinate the Combined Federal Campaign. The most recent campaign raised well over $50 million dollars. Many organize blood drives (e.g. Kansas City, Honolulu and New Orleans). They also support the Savings Bond Campaign. FEB members serve on the boards of charitable organizations such as the United Way and actively support education and charitable initiatives.

Oklahoma City Memorial Activities--This year, many FEBs held memorial services and collected donations for federal workers and their families (Boston, Denver, Honolulu, St. Louis, New Orleans, Seattle, Pittsburgh, Newark, Dallas, Houston, San Antonio, and Cleveland).

Donations--FEBs conduct food, clothing, school supplies and toy drives, with amazing results. St. Louis reported seven tons of donated food; New York's food drive is reported as one of the top ten in the city and Seattle provided school clothes and supplies for 600.

Volunteer Activities--FEBs organize volunteer activities: Buffalo has adopted a senior center, Cleveland provides meals to the hungry. Oklahoma City organized a multitude of community outreach efforts including 272 volunteers for Christmas in April to assist seniors with home repairs, 23 walked to raise funds for MS, 92 worked at the Salvation Army Toy Store, and 16 at the local PBS telethon. Seattle, Kansas City and Pittsburgh participate in a Day of Caring where from 400 to 1,600 federal volunteers paint homes, feed the needy and clean up waterways. And Los Angeles held a picnic for homeless children and donates surplus equipment to a homeless shelter.

Charity Sporting Events--FEBs such as Dallas, Atlanta and New York participate in charity walks and runs; the FEB in Denver even holds a 5K run.

Directory of Volunteer Activities--Cleveland published a Directory of Volunteer Opportunities in Elder Services. San Antonio, Portland and Baltimore produced a directory of volunteer opportunities in schools.

Theme 5: Coordinate Emergency Services

FEBs stand ready to marshal resources of the entire federal community, to assist citizen in a public emergency or aid a member agency in crisis.

Organize Emergency Communication for the Federal Community:

Interagency Coordination--Most FEBs provide a uniform policy and communication system for dismissal of federal employees. This year, they also provided information on the furloughs and coordinated with local unemployment compensation agencies and credit unions for affected employees. Security Task Forces--Following the Oklahoma Cit y disaster many FEBs reviewed security. New York, for example, formed an Int eragenc y Task Force on Emergency Management to review how the federal community com municates in all types of crises. They established three levels of communication. They assigned primary responsibility to the FAA communication center. They can accept notification from the FEB, GSA, FEMA or the FBI. That system is backed up by an FEB telephone hotline and broadcast fax system. The system can also locate tenants in specific buildings electronically in case of specific building emergencies. They have also formed a 50-member Security Officers' Council to address high-profile issues like terrorists and violence in the workplace.

Hotlines--Several FEBs have set up hotlines for agency heads to call for critical information during crises, emergencies or inclement weather (Pittsburgh, Cincinnati). Newark has a direct line to the police department to immediately obtain and circulate correct information to employees in case of possible civil disturbance.

Security Training--FEBs offer a variety of security training: security briefings (Philadelphia), mail bomb classes (Seattle), and Violence in the Workplace (Kansas City and Philadelphia); the Cincinnati FEB and OSHA co-sponsored a course for Collateral Duty Safety Officers.

Provide Disaster Assistance:

Two years ago following the Northridge Earthquake, the Los Angeles FEB trained over 1,000 federal employees who volunteered to support FEMA. This year FEBs provided a variety of support:

Aircraft Crash--Following the crash of USAir 426 in Pittsburgh, the FEB assisted agencies in coordinating emergency assistance--investigation, search and rescue, storage and identification and social security claims takings..

Bombing--Oklahoma City was the central point of contact for services and assistance available to federal agencies and employees affected by the April 19th bombing in Oklahoma City. The FEB continues to address ongoing needs of agencies and individuals affected. Dallas is the regional office city for many of the agencies in Oklahoma City. The FEB there assisted in coordinating agency offers of equipment and materials, and relief efforts.

Floods--St. Louis saved $30,000 for flooded agencies by helping them relocate to vacant space in non-flooded agencies. Dallas assisted state and local agencies in clean-up and recovery actions when the downtown area flooded.

Highlights of 1995-96 Initiatives

Communicate - FEBs located over 100 reinventing government success stories that were recognized with the Vice President's Hammer Award. Many of these successes were included in this year's National Performance Review Report: Common Sense Government. Their e-mail, FAX, and on-line networks kept front-line federal managers apprised of reinvention news and Adminsitration priorities including Career Transition Assistance, Computers to Schools, Voter Registration, and the AIDs Initiative. They also linked federal managers to the press and state agencies during this year's employee furloughs.

Reduce Costs and Improve Efficiency - FEBs helped agencies pool agency training resources to meet common needs, (i.e. executive development, supervisory training, customer service, and pre-retirement). Composite savings to agencies were often $300,000 to $500,000 by FEB location. They organized interagency Alternative Dispute Resolution Programs and reported major savings for agencies in resolving labor/management disputes. St. Louis, for instance, trained 45 mediators at no cost in 1995 and estimates savings from 22 mediations to be $150,000. FEBs also encouraged sharing administrative overhead costs.

Facilitate Service Delivery - The PMC Field Structures Report tasked FEBs with finding ways to improve customer service. As a result, the Houston US General Store for Small Business opened in July. It has served over 3,000 customers with a 99% customer satisfaction rate and is being replicated in Boston, Kansas City and Atlanta. Denver piloted improving telephone access to government services. This program was adopted by GSA as its contribution to the President's Customer Service Vanguard.

Partner with Community Groups - In the bombing aftermath, Oklahoma City coordinated relief efforts with the city, including financial assistance and scholarship funds; San Antonio delivered 900 excess federal computers to schools; New Orleans worked with law enforcement agencies on crime prevention; and New York assisted single-parent families. In addition, FEBs raised more than 50 million dollars through the Combined Federal Campaign.

Coordinate Emergency Services - FEBs coordinated furlough planning, Oklahoma City communicated with and for federal agencies following the bombing, St. Louis and Dallas assisted following floods. Last year, Los Angeles assisted FEMA by organizing over 1,000 federal volunteers following the Northridge quake.

1995 Annual Report Federal Executive Boards