A friendship.
Tim Carwell and Sam Jenkins have known each other for over a decade, but it wasn’t until a software development collaboration between The CommAlert Group and Punchcard Systems that they got to learn about each other’s businesses.
CommAlert is an emergency and crisis communications business and Punchard System is a group of skilled agile software developers. While it may be fate or good timing, the newly formed business relationship proved to happen at the exact right time. As the COVID-19 pandemic began to unfold, the two entrepreneurs began to talk more about how businesses were going to respond to the coming crisis.
On the morning of Saturday, March 14th, Tim reached out with a really simple text message: “I have an idea.” In Sam’s typical fashion, he immediately texted back with “I like ideas.” Tim responded with, “Since CommAlert and Punchcard have already executed our remote work plans, I think we should set up a mutual aid team to help the business community across Canada and the United States get through this crisis.” Then, Sam’s phone rang.
Tim suggested that they take inspiration from emergency services and build an online collection of resources to provide actionable resources for leaders in businesses.
Over the next hour, they shared, compared, and discussed the teams’ skill sets. They agreed that Commalert and its network of safety professionals would produce the initial content and Punchcard would build the hub. They pulled things together over the next twelve hours, and by Sunday night, COVIDcontinuity.com was born.
This is a team effort; we’re so grateful for the community that supported this resource hub. We’re stronger, together.