(NECON) Per City National Program

We are requesting a total of $250,000 to provide the city of Hesperia with the NECON Inc. emergency notification system. Funds will be used for licensing, network integration personnel including the hiring of an emergency coordinator, principal investigator, and canvassing staff. Each of these individuals well be instrumental in providing systems training to First Responders, Emergency Managers, community outreach NGOs, and educating residents about what to do before, during and after an emergency and disaster situations. The main natural disasters affecting the high-desert region include earthquakes, floods and heat waves, while nearby areas are affected by seasonal forest fires.  The NECON system will seamlessly integrate with existing city communication infrastructure to provide residents with rich media alerts directly to their phones, computers and any communication devices. Unlike current systems, the NECON system does not require a WEC enabled smartphone, special chip or downloadable application, and can deliver notifications and alerts to ANY device.  The emergency coordinator will be in charge of the Hesperia satellite location, and will coordinate with city and state officials to help them properly implement the NECON platform. Principal investigators will study and conduct reports on how the communication system performs in various circumstances. Canvassing staff will be instrumental in conducting grassroots campaigns aimed at informing the public, homeless, transitional housing support organizations and faith based organization about emergency and disaster preparation. Direct expenditures will also be required for maintaining and purchasing necessary equipment to meet the needs and population size of each community. Core communication equipment is housed in Colorado to help ensure that disasters and emergency events do not interfere in daily operations. Indirect expenditures are estimated and will primarily consist of traveling to public events, printing, and other admin associated costs.  In addition to the above, we are also requesting donation for overhead costs as we expand our services to meet the emergency alert needs of Hesperia’s population and surrounding High Desert communities. We are confident that lives can be saved by increasing the flow of communication during an emergency event. The city of Hesperia would benefit from the NECON Inc. notification system because of its diverse population that is spread throughout a large geographic area. Because the system reaches a wide range of devices, typical barriers such as poor network connectivity or system compatibility problems will not be an issue.  Hesperia Facts:  Population: 90,173 Area: 73 SQ Mile Median Household Income: $40,201 14% population under poverty line.  Current emergency notification systems require WEC enabled smartphones, which leaves out residents unable to afford the latest phones and devices. We believe that an emergency communication system must be able to reach ANY individual regardless of socioeconomic status.  Because the NECON system can deliver content tailored to meet the requirements of any communication device, we can help ensure that lifesaving information can reach its intended audience regardless of the circumstances.