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Home > Leadership > Mayor > Archive Press Releases > 2010 Archives > November 2010 > Mayor Brown Encourages Use Of Corporate Emergency Access System (CEAS)

Mayor Brown Encourages Use Of Corporate Emergency Access System (CEAS)

Contact: Peter K. Cutler
              851-4841  

CEAS Allows Critical Business to Continue During an Emergency

Mayor Byron Brown encourages Buffalo businesses to join the the Corporate Emergency Access System (CEAS). The CEAS is an emergency management program available for citywide implementation by the Mayor’s Office of Disaster Preparedness (ODP) in conjunction with the Business Network of Emergency Resources, Inc. (BNET).

The purpose of this system is to help mitigate the losses experienced by businesses as a result of an emergency or disaster situation in the City of Buffalo. The CEAS assists local businesses in accessing their facilities in areas restricted to the public due to an emergency condition. It is intended to help participants in the program maintain “core” business functions and take mitigation measures necessary to help maintain business continuity and viability during and after an emergency.

“The CEAS is an important component of the city’s emergency management and economic development efforts,” said Mayor Brown. “This program is critical to function of business in the event of an emergency. Corporate and business leaders worked with my Administration to develop a system that would allow access by essential employees to check on the status of their facilities and maintain critical operations.”

The City of Buffalo’s permanent program and the final design of CEAS followed a pilot project conducted in Buffalo in 2000 and has been developed based, in part, upon the public sector’s recommendations and at the urging of Buffalo’s business community.

CEAS Objectives:

  • Promote business and corporate planning for emergencies that identifies critical employees and, when possible, permit travel when emergency restrictions are in place, while at the same time, trying to eliminate travel by non-essential personnel.
  • Implement an emergency credential system that will allow traffic and law enforcement personnel to identify essential workers and at the same time enabling adherence to established travel restrictions.
  • Establish a set of consistent, clearly articulated orders to be issued by the Mayor in imposing travel restrictions.


Mayor Brown is authorized to announce restriction on travel in all or part of the City of Buffalo, under City Ordinances. At the time of the travel ban, the Mayor will also announce what level of pass will be authorized to travel into the affected area. Participants in the CEAS are exempt from travel bans, depending on the access level of the ban.

The access credential cannot be used for personal travel.  Family members cannot use the credential unless they are taking the participant – directly and immediately – to or from the workplace.

The vast majority of City of Buffalo Emergencies warranting the implementation of this system have been weather-related – but the CEAS system can be activated for any emergency (weather, terrorism, large fire, civil protest). Depending on the particular emergency, the CEAS can be activated for a particular section of the city or the entire city.  

Private sector companies, corporations and businesses are eligible to participate. Individuals, governments, public safety organizations, public utilities and hospitals are not eligible. Most of these people are covered by an official travel ban exemption as specified in the City of Buffalo Ordinances.

The CEAS was developed collaboratively by the New York State Emergency Office (SEMO), Business Network of Emergency Resources Inc. (BNET), local businesses and community leaders across New York State. It is a tool to ensure that critical business operations can function uninterrupted during a crisis.

Companies apply to the Business Network of Emergency Resources Inc. (BNET). BNET issues all credentials. Additional information can be found by visiting www.ceas.com or contacting the CEAS customer support center at 888-353-BNET.