.bodytext {float: left; } .floatimg-left-hort { float:left; margin-top:10px; margin-right: 10px; width:300px; clear:left;} .floatimg-left-caption-hort { float:left; margin-bottom:10px; width:300px; margin-right:10px; clear:left;} .floatimg-left-vert { float:left; margin-top:10px; margin-right:15px; width:200px;} .floatimg-left-caption-vert { float:left; margin-right:10px; margin-bottom:10px; font-size: 10px; width:200px;} .floatimg-right-hort { float:right; margin-top:10px; margin-left:10px; margin-bottom:10px; width: 300px;} .floatimg-right-caption-hort { float:left; margin-right:10px; margin-bottom:10px; width: 300px; font-size: 10px; } .floatimg-right-vert { float:right; margin-top:10px; margin-left:10px; margin-bottom:10px; width: 200px;} .floatimg-right-caption-vert { float:left; margin-right:10px; margin-bottom:10px; width: 200px; font-size: 10px; } .floatimgright-sidebar { float:right; margin-top:10px; margin-left:10px; margin-bottom:10px; width: 200px; border-top-style: double; border-top-color: black; border-bottom-style: double; border-bottom-color: black;} .floatimgright-sidebar p { line-height: 115%; text-indent: 10px; } .floatimgright-sidebar h4 { font-variant:small-caps; } .pullquote { float:right; margin-top:10px; margin-left:10px; margin-bottom:10px; width: 150px; background: url(http://www.dmbusinessdaily.com/DAILY/editorial/extras/closequote.gif) no-repeat bottom right !important ; line-height: 150%; font-size: 125%; border-top: 1px solid; border-bottom: 1px solid;} .floatvidleft { float:left; margin-bottom:10px; width:325px; margin-right:10px; clear:left;} .floatvidright { float:right; margin-bottom:10px; width:325px; margin-right:10px; clear:left;} After spending the past two years living abroad, Ed Beaman moved back to his home state last month to become the executive director of the Safeguard Iowa Partnership, an organization formed earlier this year to bring the public and private sectors together for disaster preparedness. Beaman’s background includes a variety of agribusiness jobs and consulting work. Most recently, he lived in Kyrgyzstan, managing a project in that country as well as in neighboring Tajikistan on behalf of the International Fertilizer Development Center. The time he spent overseas made him realize the importance of being prepared for the unexpected.

Where are you from?

I lived in different places in the Des Moines area and graduated from Perry High School.

What is your education background?

I studied sociology at Iowa State University.

What was your first job out of college?

I started out as a teacher at Valley High School. I taught economics and sociology and coached wrestling for two years. I think I really wanted to be a wrestling coach more than anything.

How did you get into agribusiness?

An opportunity came up in 1979 with John Deere to join their Des Moines Works. I was given opportunities within the Des Moines facility to really learn business from the ground level up. After 10 years at John Deere, I went to a small farm equipment company in Minnesota as their general manager and president, where I had my first real jump into international work. After that company was sold, I did some consulting work and then was hired as CEO of the Agribusiness Association of Iowa. We did a lot of great things there. We looked at it probably for the first time as a business and focused on strategic planning and membership recruitment. In 2005, I went to work full time in Central Asia on behalf of the International Fertilizer Development Center.

Do you speak other languages?

I have picked up enough Russian to understand some conversations and do things such as get a taxi and order food. It’s a very difficult language.

What brought you back to Iowa?

My family is here, and I wanted to get back closer to them. I looked at this Safeguard Iowa Partnership with interest. I didn’t think that I had a real chance to get it, since I was living 25 hours away and not able to be here for face-to-face interviews. But it worked out.

Why is this organization important?

The Safeguard Iowa Partnership performs a critically important function. It is a collaborative effort between the government and private business to ensure that both of those entities understand the resources that are available and can be shared in the time of an emergency and assist each other. I’m excited about the outcomes of what we’re doing. It should make Iowans feel better knowing that people such as the phone and energy companies and businesses are brought into the fold and have plans in place in the event that something happens.

What projects are you working on?

We are working on a resource registry that will include an inventory of resources available during an emergency and how they can be shared. We also have outreach teams of volunteers going out to businesses to explain what we’re about and solicit their support. And we are bringing people together for “table-top exercises,” using models from past pandemics to sketch out how we might react to real-life events today. It’s important to have plans, practice them and follow up so we ensure that we can do what is necessary to limit the effects of disasters when they do happen.

What makes you well suited for this job?

One of my strengths has always been bringing the right people to the table at the right time. And my recent time overseas, it became very clear to me that a lot of people don’t like America, and they will do a lot of crazy things to disrupt our lifestyle. It’s important for us to recognize that reality and make a plan.

What do you do outside work?

I really like to play tennis. Before I left the States, my brother and I played a couple of times a week together. We are starting to get back into that now that I’m back. I love the outdoors and I also like trekking and taking trips to the mountains.