Conference discusses security issues for business

Iowa business people this week met at a conference in Des Moines titled “Secure Iowa,” to talk over ways to prepare their businesses for any contingency. Organizer Dick Goodson says the conference was driven by the events of “Nine-eleven,” but it wasn’t about terrorism.Think most businesses are now rethinking their crisis planning, travel arrangements, flood preparations, as terrorism gives a reason to think about lots of potential problems. Goodson says the workplace shooting this past week in Indiana points up the need for managers to be aware of the attitudes and feelings of their employees.Many people there said afterward that the killer’d said he was going to do something, so it would help if people could come talk to management before something happens. Goodson says every business needs to review its operations and have an emergency plan in place.Each may have a different solution, but they all need to think through those issues, for the sake of their business continuity and safety of the workers. Goodson says more employers are doing background checks on prospective workers, and they should be. If it comes into conflict with constitutional privacy issues, Goodson says that’s an issue Congress is working on right now. Goodson is C-E-O of Diversified Management Services of Iowa.