Jared Blum, the Executive Director of the EPDM Roofing Association (ERA), will speak at a symposium on “Facing the Storm: The Case for Business Resilience” to be hosted on June 11 by the Insurance Institute for Business & Home Safety (IBHS). Blum will participate in a four-person interactive panel discussion on what actions can be taken by varying stakeholders to break the cycle of “repeated and preventable damage”.  Also participating on the panel will be Rachel Minnery, Senior Director of Resilience, Adaptation and Disaster Assistance at The American Institute of Architects; Ryan Colker, Vice President of Innovation and Executive Director, Alliance for National and Community Resilience at the International Code Council; and Alex Contreras, Director of Preparedness, Coordination and Communication at the Office of Disaster Assistance of the U.S. Small Business Administration.

“It’s an honor to be included on this prestigious panel of experts who are making valuable contributions to a more resilient future for American business,” said Blum, “ERA is committed to making the construction community aware of the need for resilience in the built environment, and the role that EPDM can play in creating a resilient roofing system.“

 “The specific attributes of EPDM make it uniquely valuable in attaining resilience in a structure,” said Ellen Thorp, Associate Executive Director of ERA, “We applaud the work that IBHS has done to provide science-based information about the need for resilience, and ERA is excited about joining them to support their important work.”

Responding to the heightened interest in and concern 

over the resilience of the built environment, ERA last year published its first annual report on resilience, “Building Resilience: The Roofing Perspective” and launched its microsite, EpdmTheResilientRoof.organd

To add context to the information about EPDM products, the website provides a clearinghouse of sources about resilience, as well as an up-to-date roster of recent articles, blog posts, statements of professional organizations and other pertinent information about resilience. 

To access the complete ERA website, go to www.epdmroofs.org. To access the resilience microsite, go to www.EpdmTheResilientRoof.org.