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COVID Mobilize: Save Lives & Save Jobs

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What is COVID Mobilize?

As America now tackles the process of reentry, our nation is faced with the daunting task of starting up our economic engine. And one of the hardest-hit groups in this pandemic is the American Small Business, with an estimated 1/3 not able to re-open their doors. COVID Mobilize is a free web app built to engage companies on the front-lines to more effectively secure paid projects on behalf of area public agencies during the recovery. While making it easier for public agencies to get the help they need to save lives and save jobs.

“The challenge is there's just so much information out there and so much coming from different sources. And then as that gets flooded out through the various channels... a lot of it is redundant it's over complicated and my concern is people are just getting exhausted just trying to keep up with what's the most current what's the most accurate information.” - Rich Price (Director of Economic Development at Jackson County, NC)

We’re here to help. 

COVID Mobilize is a match-making directory platform that brings American businesses into the fold, to assist public agencies with the response and recovery efforts around reopening the country. The web app empowers companies to solve COVID-19 resource, production, and talent needs by connecting directly with area agencies facing project challenges.

Businesses are able to rapidly filter the national database for projects requesting the types of services and manufacturing that they can pivot to provide. And Public agencies can post their immediate requests to find local support faster than ever before.

The Problem & Our Mission

Healthcare providers, nonprofit organizations, and government agencies are being tasked with an impossibly complex crisis, as we all work through the economic recovery efforts from the COVID-19 pandemic. 

When working on the front-lines, reality hits. Every time you feel like you have solved a problem, you discover another barrier. It feels like a never-ending list of urgent demands and unmet supply needs, which is forcing all of America to find a better way to rebuild.

We're connecting government, nonprofits, and businesses to mobilize quick, effective action during the economic recovery. COVID Mobilize is a match-making platform empowering American companies to solve COVID-19 resource and talent needs.

COVID Mobilize Helps:

• Repurpose existing businesses to identify area recovery efforts which can result in a paid project or contract
• Assist public agencies with rapidly locating production & professional support within a designated geographic area
• Match requests with services and resource needs around searching sectors, locations, or timeline


"We are facing needs on a statewide and regional level that are challenging our current public infrastructure with new ways of source solutions. As government agencies rush to find companies that can pivot to produce PPE and other critical materials, we are struggling to know who has the capacity to start producing quickly. This platform is allowing leaders to bypass traditional sector silos and instead work directly with the current raw materials and production potential in their own backyard. I’m so grateful that we have this tool for our COVID-19 recovery efforts and to use for future economic development projects, even after the crisis."  - Erica Anderson (Community & Economic Development Director with Land of Sky Regional Council)

The COVID Mobilize database connects the needs shared by public agencies with area companies who can offer the tools, talent, raw materials, and production capabilities to address those challenges, quickly.

In the online directory, members post either a Project Request or Available Resources offered. Within the directory profiles, projects match in real-time around the following variables:

• Organizational Expertise
• Physical Location or Multi-County Service Area
• All Economic Sectors and Supply Chains
• Resources and Raw materials
• Project Timeline and Budget


How it Started

When the COVID-19 pandemic began to rip across the United States, Matthew Nederlanden felt compelled to help. As a Foster Parent who shares the majority of his profits with his staff and community, Matthew is the kind of person who can’t sit idly by when surrounded by struggle. He rolls up his sleeves and gets to work to support those in need. 

Matthew is the CEO of Security Camera Warehouse, an Inc. 5000 Company specializing in security software and equipment. He is no stranger to tackling complicated projects with direct personal impact. So, he did what any compassionate problem solver does; he jumped in to investigate potential solutions.

After making several phone calls and offers of assistance to area leaders, Matthew still felt frustrated about how to best make an impact in his community. The need was massive, but there was only ambiguity on how local companies should engage. 

Matthew decided to contact Emily Breedlove, another local CEO and Government Relations expert, to figure out how to bring business resources to the table. Emily also felt the disparaging gap and wanted to help. The two of them gathered a small group of CEOs in Asheville, NC in an attempt to mobilize leadership, talent, raw materials, and more.

Aimed at connecting front-line groups with urgent needs, the team launched project management software for communication, a website directory, and deployed a database. Within hours their makeshift system was flooded with more requests, shares, questions, and non-stop communication than they could manage.

In the midst of all the noise and chaos, the team of CEOs identified a few important things:

• There’s more need than we can see
• Everyone is overwhelmed and in Crisis Mode
• The response requires more than Nonprofits & Governments are built to handle
• Companies can help, but there isn’t a way to get involved
• We can build a better way to tackle this

At this point, contributors at Nomadic Software stepped forward with a software product plan leveraging technology. They offered to build a web application to match-make those who have resources with those who have needs. 

The assembled team quickly pivoted and dove into this next evolution of the project. From March 23rd through the Easter Holiday weekend, team members from different companies merged workflows in a dynamic collaboration incubator to produce a new solution. The COVID Mobilize platform was born.

COVID Mobilize continues to evolve with the evolving phases of the pandemic; from crisis response to containment to economic recovery. The team was recently accepted into the inaugural cohort of MISSION-R Accelerator through the Research Triangle’s RIoT. They are stepping up to support this work in the ways that Private Enterprise is built for; Innovation, Iteration, and Production.

We believe that businesses play a necessary role on the front-lines and that together, America can rebuild quickly. This web app was built to save lives and save jobs. Please join us in the COVID Mobilize effort.


How Your Donations will be Spent

Our web app provides a matchmaking directory system which makes it easier for small businesses to meet the immediate recovery needs of their area public agencies. And while this tool has the capability of supporting companies in all corners of America, our team would need the funds to implement within all 50 states.

In order to implement within every corner of the country, our team of developers will need to work directly with each state around integrating within current government and business networks. We will need to establish public-private partnerships on the ground level, all across the country, to ensure that American Small Businesses are given every chance to survive this crisis.

As expansion continues, it will also place a strain on our servers, to meet the growing needs of the web app. The funds will help us to rapidly scale this platform to maintain proper serve and security protocol, within each of our major growth phases.

These team efforts act as a Social Enterprise joint venture, with all immediate fundraising directed towards the maintenance, development, and scaling of the platform, to ensure that COVID Mobilize can remain a free and accessible platform for all American organizations ready to engage.

The Potential Impact of Your Support


This crisis is far from over. The economic recovery efforts following the COVID-19 pandemic are and will continue to place a significant burden on all of America. This tool is finally leveraging technology in order to collect more comprehensive data, encourage more streamlined communication, and make progress on critical projects faster.

By supporting the COVID Mobilize tool, you are helping us all to give more American Businesses the chance to survive, and American communities the chance to recover. This nation can be stronger on the other side if we embrace the ingenuity of new opportunities.

Example Use Cases for COVID Mobilize


• We got distilling companies to repurpose their equipment to make hand sanitizer, a critical need for Manna Food Bank right now.

• We received the request for face shields from Medical Groups in North Carolina. We repurposed local engineers and 3D printing companies to work on filling the need.

• We received a need from regional healthcare professionals to buy N95 masks. We began searching for manufacturing companies that may pivot production to manufacture masks.

• We are working with regional economic development agencies around the reshoring of manufacturing efforts and aggregation of PPE within a multi-county area.

• We are providing database support to county emergency response organizations as they restructure their internal operations in preparation for the 2nd wave.



The COVID Mobilize Team

COVID Mobilize is a joint effort between four different companies and twelve people. We are business leaders and tech experts based in Asheville, North Carolina who have come together to mobilize against COVID-19.



Thank You for Your Support

We believe that businesses play a necessary role on the front-lines and that together, America can rebuild quickly. This web app was built to save lives and save jobs. Please join us in the COVID Mobilize effort. 

Share this Mission to Help Save Jobs & Rebuild Communities

Visit Our Website: https://covidmobilize.com/

Visit Our Web App: https://app.covidmobilize.com/

Donate

Donations 

  • Judith Brinson Brinson
    • $500 
    • 4 yrs
  • Greta Anderson
    • $75 
    • 4 yrs
  • Munan Gong
    • $20 
    • 4 yrs
  • Jan Sturgis
    • $100 
    • 4 yrs
  • Anonymous
    • $500 
    • 4 yrs
Donate

Fundraising team: COVID Mobilize (5)

Emily Breedlove
Organizer
Asheville, NC
Nathan Silsbee
Team member
Matthew Nederlanden
Team member
Asheville Roller Skate
Team member
Ben Rea
Team member

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