Back to business after the bombing.

• Author: Haupert, John E.
• Position: World Trade Center

Having a business resumption plan in place enabled the treasury department of the Port Authority of New York & New Jersey to go forward with a scheduled debt service payment plus other portfolio and cash management activities on the first working day following the explosion in the World Trade Center, the authority's headquarters building.

The normal functioning of the Treasury Department at the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey was interrupted in the most dramatic fashion imaginable at 12:18 p.m. on Friday, February 26, 1993. Since the specifics of the terrorist bombing at the World Trade Center have been widely reported, it is unnecessary to dwell on the details. Suffice it to say that in an instant all business activity came to a halt, with most of Friday afternoon consumed in evacuating the Trade Center. By the end of the day the only thing that seemed clear was that the department would not be able to reoccupy its offices on Monday.

Because the Port Authority's investment, cash management and debt management operations are managed by Port Authority staff, it was imperative that business be substantially resumed on Monday, especially since Monday, March 1, was a due date for several large debt service payments. Clearly, the weekend had to be devoted to planning for resuming operations at a remote location.

Fortunately, the Port Authority, as a matter of standing practice, maintains a business resumption plan to deal with the possibility of such situations. Without the business resumption plan that was in place at the time of the Friday, February 26, 1993 incident, it would not have been realistic to expect that the treasury department could be back in business by the following Monday.

The Business Resumption Plan

The treasury department's business resumption plan identified space at the Port Authority's Technical Center in Jersey City, N.J., for its use. Copies of critical computer records and software were on file there and existing computer hardware and communications systems had been identified for shared use. The plan also provided procedures for contacting key personnel at home. A key element of the plan involved designated business resumption coordinators whose responsibility it was, under the guidance of the treasurer, to make sure that all aspects of the plan were set in motion so as to provide the greatest probability that the department would be up and running by Monday morning.

With the business resumption plan as a...