Government doesn’t get to close. Your continuity program has to make sure it doesn’t.
City, county, state, tribal, and federal agencies deliver services people can’t do without, and many have emergency responsibilities that activate the moment something goes wrong.
We help public sector agencies build continuity of operations, emergency management, and crisis management programs that keep essential functions running, fit the frameworks your partners already use, and stay simple enough for your teams to execute.
✅ Practitioner-led, not advisory
✅ Built on FEMA continuity guidance, NIMS, and ICS
✅ Tested in real exercises, not just on paper
What we hear from public sector leaders
Whether it’s a city department, a county emergency management office, or a federal agency, we hear the same things from the people who own continuity and emergency management:
“I don’t have enough time and hands.”
“Our continuity plan is pretty basic. It doesn’t have a business impact analysis.”
“We have plans, but no one’s touched them in years.”
“Unless you have a solid champion who’s really going to own it, it’s hard.”
“We don’t know what we’d recover first, or what’s tied to what.”
“One of the biggest challenges is making it too complicated.”
Sound familiar? You don’t need another consultant to tell you what you already know. You need practitioners who will simplify the program, build what’s missing, and help you run it.
The public sector reality
Continuity of operations (COOP) in government rests on a clear body of federal policy and guidance:
- Presidential Policy Directive 40 (2016) sets national continuity policy.
- FEMA’s 2024 Federal Continuity Directives replaced Federal Continuity Directives 1 and 2 for executive branch agencies. They require agencies to perform essential functions no later than 12 hours after activation and to sustain them for at least 30 days, or until normal operations resume.
- FEMA’s Continuity Guidance Circular (2018, updated 2024) extends the same framework to state, local, tribal, and territorial governments, and to private and nonprofit organizations.
- A viable continuity capability covers essential functions, orders of succession, delegations of authority, continuity facilities, continuity communications, essential records, human capital, tests, training, and exercises, devolution, and reconstitution.
- The Homeland Security Exercise and Evaluation Program (HSEEP) separates discussion-based exercises, like tabletops, from operations-based exercises: drills, functional exercises, and full-scale exercises.
Agencies also carry emergency responsibilities that activate during a local, state, or national emergency, and those plans must work alongside the Incident Command System (ICS) and the National Incident Management System (NIMS). Meanwhile the threats keep growing: severe weather, cyberattacks on public systems, violence, and failures at the vendors agencies depend on.
The answer isn’t a separate plan for every directive. It’s one program, with one set of plans, one emergency and crisis structure, and one testing calendar, that meets all of them.
How we help public sector agencies
- Resiliency Diagnosis®. A standards-based evaluation of your continuity, emergency, and crisis management capabilities, with a maturity score and a prioritized roadmap, in about 12 weeks.
- Continuity of operations and Business Continuity as a Service. Essential functions, BIAs, succession, delegations, and devolution plans, built with you or run for you.
- Crisis and emergency management. Emergency plans and crisis structures that work alongside ICS and NIMS, with clear activation levels and decision authority.
- IT disaster recovery. Recovery requirements, plans, and testing that match what your essential functions actually need.
- Exercises. Tabletops, functional exercises, and full-scale exercises, using HSEEP’s exercise types so your exercises speak the same language as your partner agencies.
- Cyber crisis exercises. Ransomware and data breach scenarios that test the handoff from the technical team to agency leadership.
- Crisis communications. Communication plans and messaging for residents, elected officials, partner agencies, and the media.
- Intelligence and public-private partnerships. Information sharing and incident coordination between agencies and the private sector organizations they work with.
Full-scale
active shooter exercise with local, state, and federal law enforcement, fire, and EMS
14
interviews, plus facility tours and three ideation sessions, behind the plan
1 AAR
adopted by both the organization and law enforcement
Programs aligned to
PPD-40 · FEMA Continuity Guidance · NIMS · ICS · HSEEP · ISO 22301 · ISO 22361
Our public sector work
We’ve worked with law enforcement at the local, county, state, and federal levels, with city, county, and state governments, and with the US government, including emergency management, public health, and intelligence functions. All of our case studies are anonymized.
Public safety partnerships
- An active shooter plan and full-scale exercise for a Fortune 100 corporation’s global headquarters, planned and run with multiple city, county, and federal law enforcement agencies, fire, and emergency medical services. Read the case study.
More of our public sector work
- A new communication and incident management strategy for a major U.S. federal law enforcement agency, to ensure rapid notification and ongoing collaboration with private sector businesses facing significant threats at home and abroad.
- Before founding Bryghtpath, our CEO worked with the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA), along with several private sector organizations, to help design the Private Sector Representative position in FEMA’s Office of the Private Sector. The position, staffed by a loaned executive from a private sector organization, supported policy work in that office and, during national-scale emergencies, FEMA’s response and recovery missions in the National Response Coordination Center (NRCC).
Frequently asked questions
What’s the difference between continuity of operations and business continuity?
Continuity of operations (COOP) is the public sector term, built on FEMA’s continuity guidance: essential functions, succession, delegations of authority, continuity facilities, and the rest. Business continuity is the private sector discipline. The work is closely related, and we build both.
Do the federal continuity directives apply to state and local governments?
The Federal Continuity Directives bind federal executive branch agencies. FEMA’s Continuity Guidance Circular extends the same framework to state, local, tribal, and territorial governments as guidance. We help you meet the parts that fit your mission without building a federal program you don’t need.
Will our plans work with ICS and NIMS?
Yes. We build emergency and crisis plans that work alongside the Incident Command System and NIMS, so your agency’s role in a larger response is clear before the emergency starts.
Do your exercises follow HSEEP?
We use HSEEP’s exercise types, from discussion-based tabletops to functional and full-scale exercises, and every exercise ends with an After-Action Report (AAR) and prioritized recommendations.
Can you help us stand up a program from scratch?
Yes. We start with a Resiliency Diagnosis® to see what you have, then build the essential functions, plans, and exercise calendar in the order that matters most.
Do you help agencies work with the private sector?
Yes. We’ve built incident communication and collaboration strategies between government agencies and private sector organizations, and before founding Bryghtpath, our CEO helped design FEMA’s Private Sector Representative role.
We can help.
Let Bryghtpath put its public sector experience to work for your agency
From your continuity of operations plan to your next full-scale exercise, we’ll help you build a program that holds up when it matters.