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6/2/2014 Application Number: EMW-2011-FF-00724 Narrative Statement for Volunteer Recruitment and Retention Activity • Element #1 - Project Description (30%): This statement should describe how the applicant will use the grant funds. The project description should include: • How the recruitment of new volunteer firefighters and/or retention of current volunteer firefighters will impact the department's or organization's identified operational needs or capabilities • A description of the specific benefit these firefighters will provide for the fire department(s) or community • A description of the recruitment and/or retention problems or issues the department has identified • How the activities being requested address those identified needs; • Specifics about the recruitment and/or retention plan • Specifics about which activities are part of the regional request and which activities are exclusive to the host applicant, if applicable • A list of the participating third -party organizations that will benefit from the regional project, if the project is approved. This project is requesting $1,157,491 over a four-year period that will focus on a regional recruitment and retention plan affecting 16 fire departments protecting 21 communities within Anoka County, Minnesota. Because two of the fire departments within Anoka County cover cities in other counties as well, this grant will also have a positive impact on Hennepin and Ramsey Counties which are two of the largest counties in the State of Minnesota. The cities of Minneapolis and St. Paul are within those two counties. Anoka County is the fourth largest county in the State of Minnesota. It is connected on its southem end to the City of Minneapolis and is considered part of the 7 -county metropolitan areas. The latest census data shows there is a population of 335,000 residents and that it is one of the fastest growing counties within the state. The county is looked upon as a leader in many government projects and is proud to have achieved several local awards for the "Best place to live in the U.S." by Money magazine and CNBC. We also have a long history of collaboration amongst local govemment officials and often work together on large projects such as the one being submitted. This grant is being hosted by the Centennial Fire District. The author of the grant has administered over 10 FEMA grants since 2001 and has a successful track records for proper grant close outs. The Centennial Fire District has chosen to focus only on the regional request knowing that if this grant is approved, it too will benefit from it. The fire departments included within the grant are: Andover, Anoka -Champlin, Bethel, Centennial Fire District, Columbia Heights, Columbus, Coon Rapids, East Bethel, Fridley, Ham Lake, Lexington, Linwood, Oak Grove, Ramsey, SBM Fire District, and the St. Francis Fire Department. The requested items within the grant are part of the findings after a one-year needs assessment conducted on our future recruitment and retention needs. Over 94% of the 665 firefighters within Anoka County are volunteers. Of the 16 fire departments, 1 is fully career supplemented by 20 volunteers, 10 are combination with less than 1% career, and the remaining 5 are all volunteers. The majority of the county is certified to the Firefighter I level or higher and the majority provides some sort of EMS component. The average age of the firefighters within the county is 40.25 years with most of them being male firefighters. The county is in need of 236 new firefighters within the next 4 years. That is 34% of our optimal staffing level. With the grant, we plan to implement a common recruitment message and build tools that allow interested candidates to easily access information on how to become a volunteer firefighter. We would also hire a full-time recruitment coordinator that would act as the point of contact for all of the fire departments to implement our recruitment and retention plan. Today, the majority of the fire departments within the county are not at full staff. We are all working on our own to find good people that can assist us in maintaining appropriate deployment capabilities for effective response of emergencies. Maintaining and restoring our numbers of volunteer firefighters is essential to the counties ability to protect our communities from all hazards. Restoring our staffing numbers will reduce our response times and give us more staff so that we can meet or exceed the NFPA 1720 standard for emergency response by volunteers. Along with having restored staffing, it is hoped that this grant could increase the safety and wellbeing of the fire departments by having appropriate staffing numbers on the scene. -aG--/--f--MAA/---1:-..tiw../...;M---:- .-0.......... ---- r\I\A8 ln44 rr n,WnA nfl/o'j