Walk the 2026 site and nearly everything had come from somewhere else. The tents, cots and shower trailers belonged to the Oregon Department of Human Services, which stages them for real disasters. The field kitchen was a National Guard container unit. The incident commander was a Guard colonel. The planning chief normally runs incident management teams for the Oregon Department of Forestry. The ground itself belonged to Knife River, one of the country’s largest construction materials companies, which operates a training center on the site.
That was the design, not an accident. Amber Rawson, whose agency supplied the mass-care equipment, called the camp “a collaborative effort of private and public sectors.”
“This is the true definition of how a state can function and operate for the greater good of everybody,” she said.
Each partner had its own reason to show up. The Department of Emergency Management saw a chance to train a new generation in household preparedness. The Department of Forestry, an all-hazard agency, got a live exercise in incident command. The National Guard saw mentorship and recruitment: at an April planning meeting, Guard leaders offered “a dozen, if not more people” for mentorship, communications, medical support and possibly a mobile kitchen, and noted that personnel could take part on paid annual-training status. Knife River got a showcase for the trades. And for agencies that only meet in a crisis, the week was a rehearsal. “When we get an opportunity to work together in non-crisis situations,” said Ari Nordquist of the Department of Emergency Management, “we’re able to collaborate in real time but then also have stronger relationships when crisis does occur.”
Recruit for functions, not for particular agencies. The table shows who held each function in 2026 and what a region should look for.
Function | Held in 2026 by: | What your region needs | Why they say yes |
Program lead and convener | Oregon Housing and Community Services, Disaster Recovery and Resilience | One person with the relationships and standing to pull agencies together | Recovery agencies need trained builders and deployable units |
Education sponsor | Lane Education Service District | An ESD or district that can register students, hire educators, hold forms, pay stipends and place an administrator on site | Career-connected learning outcomes; a model to replicate |
Site host | Knife River Training Center | A fenced site with open ground, indoor fallback space and a host willing to check in daily | Visibility for the trades; recruitment; community standing |
Mass care and sheltering | ODHS Office of Resilience and Emergency Management | Tents, cots, showers, hygiene, logistics and the people who deploy them | Exercise for staff and equipment; units for recovery |
Incident command, volunteers and activities | Oregon Department of Forestry | ICS-qualified staff for command roles; coordinators for volunteers and schedule | Training and qualification time; public engagement |
Preparedness curriculum | Oregon Department of Emergency Management (Be 2 Weeks Ready) | State or county emergency management | Reaches households through students |
Incident commander, field kitchen, personnel | Oregon National Guard | Guard or other uniformed partners who can commit people for the week | Mentorship, recruitment, community relations |
Project management, budget, materials, marketing | Pivot Architecture (Team Oregon Build program manager) | A dedicated project manager. This is a job, not a side duty. | Prototype testing; network growth |
Education policy and tribal liaison | Oregon Department of Education | State or regional education agency contacts | Statewide CTE and counseling priorities |
Local responders | Albany Fire, Lebanon Fire District, Linn County Sheriff | Local fire, EMS and search and rescue, for sessions and so they know you are there | Recruitment; public education |
Curriculum partners | WiseMind Educational Services, Oregon Employability Skills, Paxton/Patterson | Providers for resilience, employability and hands-on labs | Reach; testing new material |
Funders | A lead state agency, Portland General Electric Foundation, ODF | A lead funder plus local foundations, utilities and industry | Workforce pipeline; communities in risk zones |