Jeff Ownby (left) receives his Professional Manager certification from Tim Reeve (center) as Commission Chairman Jevin Jensen looks on
Jeff Ownby, deputy director of Whitfield Emergency Management, received his “Professional Manager” certification during a ceremony at Monday night’s county commission meeting.
The certification comes after Dep. Dir. Ownby completed all the requirements of the Georgia Emergency Management and Homeland Security Agency Professional Manager program.
Tim Reeve, area coordinator for GEMA, thanked the commissioners for the opportunity to recognize Dep. Dir. Ownby “for a lot of hard work that he’s put into the emergency management profession throughout several years.”
The Professional Manager represents the highest level of certification by GEMA, Mr. Reeve said, adding that 105 emergency managers throughout the state have been certified since the program began in the late 1990s.
Requirements include 22 Federal Emergency Management Agency independent study courses, 24 GEMA emergency management courses, more than 500 hours of continuing education in a variety of disciplines and specialties ranging from mitigation response, recovery, incident command, shelter operations to the design, development and implementation of a full scale exercise, as well as five contributions to the field of Emergency Management (instructor, publications, AV products, special projects, pilot programs or public speaking).
Dep. Dir. Ownby actually met the requirements for the certification during 2020, but the presentation ceremony was delayed because of COVID-19.