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Jerry Bock

New Position: Senior consultant, Elliot Consulting Services, Tampa. Previous Position: Senior business continuity coordinator, Raymond James Financial, St. Petersburg

By FRED W. WRIGHT JR.
Published December 12, 2005

After two active hurricane seasons, Jerry Bock is looking ahead. As an expert in contingency planning, it's his job to anticipate events that might interrupt business and then plan accordingly.

Bock, newly appointed senior consultant with Elliot Consulting Services in Tampa, has 25 years' experience in finance and information technology, necessary skills for knowing how unplanned events can affect a business.

"This is an area we feel is of high importance because of the hurricane seasons of 2004 and 2005," Bock said, "especially to small and medium-sized firms, which are our target clients."

Larger companies, he said, typically have in-house staffers who address business continuity planning. Elliot Consulting provides the services for small and mid-sized companies. "Business continuity is basically analyze a business, identify its critical functions and processes, and then look at potential risks that could impact that business," Bock said.

Often, he noted, such events happen without warning. "Then you develop a plan that mitigates the impact of the risk and defines how you will recover from a situation that develops and how you maintain your critical services to customers and clients."

Since not all interruptions are as predictable as hurricanes, Bock's job is to ask "what if?" What if a neighboring business has a fire? Your business may not be damaged, but you're shut down because your business is not accessible.

"How do you deal with your customers if your phone service is interrupted?" he said. What if you lose your Internet access? What if a key employee becomes sick for an extended period of time?

These events can have a significant impact and businesses need a contingency plan, Bock said. Depending on the size of the business, an in-depth analysis can take from a month to a year, Bock said. "It depends on the level of detail."

Originally from Philipsburg, Pa., Bock began working in data processing while attending college. He earned a bachelor's degree in business management in 1975 from Indiana University of Pennsylvania. In 1978, Bock took a position with General Dynamics in Tampa as a senior systems analyst. Throughout his career, he worked in various financial and information technology capacities with other companies and banks in Tampa, including Chase Manhattan and Equifax, before joining Raymond James in St. Petersburg in 2003 as business continuity coordinator.

Bock said there are many personal rewards in providing contingency plans for a variety of businesses. "I always reflect back, if a situation occurs, on what actually happened and how the plan worked, and what were the shortcomings, if any," he said. "What worked fine? What do we have to change? What are the lessons learned?"

Bock, 62, is corporate education director for the National Association of Contingency Planners, a national organization with about 35 chapters, and he is president of the Greater Tampa Bay chapter, which has about 50 members. Bock also co-authored the Florida Business Disaster Survival Kit published in 2004 by the Tampa Bay Regional Planning Council.

In addition, Bock is director of the Tampa Bay Terrier Club, which has about 50 members. Bock and his wife, Gloria, own two wire-haired fox terriers, both show dogs.

The Bocks have two adult children and live in Clearwater.

Bock also is an avid model railroader and a member of the Suncoast Model Railroad Club in Largo. His collection features models of the Pennsylvania Railroad.

[Last modified December 8, 2005, 19:21:02]