CRISIS COMMUNICATION PLAN

Response to Disease Outbreak within

Cattle Entering the Market

Rana Hilliard
DECEMBER 1, 2020

PLAN TEST DATE:

APRIL 1, 2021
 TABLE OF CONTENTS
Message from the CEO..............................................................2
Acknowledgement......................................................................3
Purpose and Objectives.............................................................4
Key Publics..................................................................................5
Crisis Communication Team......................................................7
Media Spokespersons................................................................8
Interview Tips..............................................................................8
Potential Questions....................................................................9
Experts.......................................................................................10
Emergency Personnel...............................................................11
Crisis Control Room Equipment & Supplies...........................12
Crisis Control Room Setup Plan...............................................12
Key Messages............................................................................13
Dissemination of Key Messages..............................................14
Pre-Information & Press Release............................................15
Evaluation..................................................................................16
Closing Statement....................................................................17
 2
A MESSAGE FROM OUR CEO
At Arcadia Stockyard, we pride ourselves in
taking care of not only our buyers and sellers
but our livestock. Since becoming the owner of
a livestock market, I have learned the value of
customer service. It is important to me when
doing business here that you find a friendly,
welcoming atmosphere. My staff and I work
hard to meet your marketing needs so the
relationships started can last a lifetime.

The health of our cattle is our number one priority. Despite our best
efforts to ensure the healthiest product leaving our chutes, we could
experience a disease outbreak that could make our cattle dangerously ill
or die. We have seen this happen in the past at other Stockyards and
must be aware of this possibility.
In the event of a disease outbreak within cattle at our market we could
be an extreme loss of income and support from our customers.

This crisis communication plan provides detailed directions for you if our
company were to face this situation in the future. In these situations, it is
imperative that the Arcadia Livestock family work together to quickly
eradicate the situation and get the word out to our customers on the
buying and selling end. I hope that each one of you will become familiar
with the following Crisis Communication Plan and understand what
actions to take in a situation of disease outbreak.

Carl McKettrick

Carl McKettrick
CEO & President
Arcadia Stockyard
 3

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

Carl McKettrick Joe Hilliard

Chief Executive Officer Chief Commercial Officer

Libby McKettrick Carl McKettrick Jr.

Chief Financial Officer VP Operations

Kelly Mercer Gracie Smoak

VP Management VP Human Resources

Sharon Turner Kami McGrath

Office Manager Public Relations Director

Please sign the line above your name to certify

you have read over this Crisis Communication
Plan and are willing to act in the case of
emergency.
 4

PURPOSE STATEMENT
In the event of a disease outbreak, ensuring the safety of
livestock is our main goal. Arcadia Stockyard will be the first
to report any illness or disease in cattle coming into the
market. It is our job to be transparent and timely with our
information in hopes to stop an outbreak before it is
detrimental to our customers. We will maintain contact with
media outlets as well as government agencies to inform
everyone necessary if a disease outbreak were to happen.

OBJECTIVES
1. Initiate the Crisis Communication Plan within 5 hours of
notification of disease outbreak.
2. Assemble the Crisis Communication team and notify experts
3. Notify key publics, shareholders, and emergency personnel
4. Notify all customers buying or selling livestock with property in
the barn that day
5. Post press release on social media pages
6. Have media spokesperson reach out to media outlets for
response from our company
7. Keep social media pages updated with updates from
professionals
8. Detain disease carrying cattle. Not letting any cattle enter or exit
facility until Vet clearance.
9. Eradicate disease from property within 3 days
10. Reevaluate Crisis Communication Plan within one week to
discuss what worked and what did not
 5

KEY PUBLICS
Internal

Our internal Key Publics will be notified immediately in the

case of a crisis. This group of people is essential in correctly
communicating and fixing the problem. As we are a small
company, alerting this group of people will be quick over the
telephone.
 6

KEY PUBLICS
External

After our Internal Publics are notified and the Crisis

Communication plan is in act, we will begin to notify our
external publics within 3 hours of the crisis. Our external key
publics will include media outlets as well as our buyers and
sellers that contribute to our market.

1. Media Outlets

2. Customers

A mass email will be sent out to all customers in our records.

3. State Agriculture Agencies

 7

CRISIS COMMUNICATION TEAM

This Crisis Communication Team consists of our PR
director, legal team representative, and others who will
be responsible for acting first on the potential crisis. It is
important that everyone know their roles before a crisis
happens to prevent any delay on action
 8

MEDIA SPOKESPERSON
Natalie Preston
cell: (305)-678-1199
email: nataliep@yahoo.com

Interview Suggestions

1. Keep Arcadia Stockyard's mission first in all conversation

2. Be transparent with all data presented
3. Do not speak negatively about the market or employees
4. If you do not know the complete answer to a question, refer
back to someone who does before answering
5. Always tell the truth
 9

Potential Questions and Quick Responses

1. Could the Arcadia Stockyard have done anything to prevent this
outbreak from happening?
a. The employees here at the stockyard are prepared and
acting accordingly to fight this accident of an outbreak. Since
we have no control of what cattle are brought in to our
facility.
2. Who was the first person to notice the cattle were ill?
a. Our backlot staff is constantly monitoring the shape that the
cattle are in while at the market. Our riding foreman was the
first to notice some of the cattle entering the market had a
bad cough and were moving slow.
3. What has been done since the outbreak to eradicate it from
your market?
a. After the announcement of the outbreak, we separated all
sick cattle into their own lot in the back. The healthy cattle
were shipped away to prevent any more contamination.
4. How have you spread the word to your customers?
a. When you register to buy or sell at our market your contact
information is uploaded and we are able to send out mass
email updates. Once we enacted out crisis plan, an email
explaining all details of what would happen next was sent
out to everyone in our email bank.
5. When do you expect to be up and running again?
a. The Arcadia Stockyard wants to make sure that all possible
infectious disease is completely gone before accepting more
cattle into our facilities. We hope to be back open next
Monday for regular market hours.
 10

EXPERTS ON THE OUTBREAK

Jess Landa DVM

Cracker Trail Veterinary Clinic Phone: (863) 873-4143
Local Large Animal Vet Email: crackertrail@yahoo.com

Jim Handley
Executive Vice President Phone: (407)-466-3211
Florida Cattlemen's Association Email: jim@floridacattlemen.org

Mike Short DVM

Large Animal Vet Phone: (850)-410-0900
State Veterinary and Email: michael.short@freshfromflorida.com
Director of Animal Industry Agency

These three experts all bring different knowledge to the table. Dr.
Landa is a local large animal vet who knows the ranchers around
the area and most of the cattle coming into the market. Jim Handley
is in connection with all of the ranchers and livestock markets
around the state. His connections and knowledge can help us
spread the word and get answers on this outbreak. Finally Dr. Short
is a state vet who's job is to be up to date on all things large animal
in the state of Florida. He will be an asset while eradicating this
disease.
 11

EMERGENCY PERSONNEL

Florida Department of Agriculture

and Consumer Services

Phone: (850) 617-7700

Email: Contact.FDACS.gov

Florida Cattlemen's Association

Phone: (407) 846-6221

Email: info@floridacattlemen.org
 12

CRISIS CONTROL ROOM

Crisis Control Room Supplies

Outlets
Extension cords
Pens
Dry Erase Board
Paper
USB Drive
Coffee and cream/sugar
Cups
Landline Phone
Plates
Printer
Bottles of Water
Fax Machine
Napkins
Contact list - Internal/External
 13

KEY MESSAGES

In the event of a disease outbreak in cattle at the Arcadia

Stockyard, it is important for all of our customers to know
that we are committed to the safety of their livestock. We
pledge as a company to be completely transparent when
sharing information and updates about the state of our
livestock market.

1. The health of our livestock is our companies number

one concern
2. We have great connections with outside experts who are
working day in and day out to figure out how to solve
this problem
3. As a company who treats our customers like family, we
vow to remain completely truthful and transparent when
communicating information
 14

DISSEMINATION OF KEY MESSAGES

Internal Publics:
Our Internal Publics list will be contacted right off the bat. Since our
business is small and most employees on this list are at the market
every day the ways we will communicate with this group will be
Face to Face
Calling
Email follow-up
These three methods of contacting our internal publics will be the
quickest and easiest way to spread any information fast. We would
start with face to face because everyone is easily around to be
reached. Then calling if one person is at lunch around the time
information needed to be spread. An email follow-up will just be in
place to reiterate and have something visible for a member to go
back to.

External Publics:
It is important that our internal publics are alerted of this crisis first,
but alerting or external publics like our customers, vets, and state
officials is also one of the first steps when in crisis. The way we will
communicate updates to this group is
Calling
Email
Mailed letters
These methods will be the most efficient when reaching our
external publics. Again since we are a small scale business we will
not need to make a lot of news releases to reach our external
publics.
 15

PRE INFORMATION
Below you will find a list of information and supplies that would be
needed prior to a crisis happening at the market. These documents
should be in an easy to locate area where all crisis communication
team members know where it is. This supplies will aid in the
beginning of enacting a crisis communication plan.

Crisis Control Room Supplies

Arcadia Stockyard's current safety procedure pamphlet
Full list of external and internal publics contact information
List of local vet and state vets information

PRESS RELEASE
News Release
Contact:__________
Phone:___________
Email:____________

For Immediate Release:

When an employee was making his rounds in the back pens and
noticed _______ cattle were down and sick. After a brief meeting with
internal employees, all outside officials were contacted and two vets
were brought in to assess what could be happening.

Unfortunately we do not know what this means for the future of the
cattle industry. A disease outbreak is hard to predict who and when
it will effect. Arcadia Stockyard has taken all of the necessary
precautions to eradicate this disease from our premise.
 16

EVALUATION
In the event of a disease outbreak affecting the health of the cattle
in our stockyard we will refer immediately back to our Crisis
Communication Plan.

After the Crisis is controlled and Arcadia Stockyard is back in

business selling cattle our crisis communication team with have a
meeting of reflection with all staff.
At this meeting the team will evaluate what happened from day one.

After the meeting is adjourned a survey will be sent out to our

Internal and External Publics just so they can give us feedback on
how we handled the situation. This survey will be a range of
questions that can help us reevaluate our crisis team for future
instances.

Our final method of evaluation will be personal interviews with

employees and the crisis communication team. This will be a time
for our employees to share any thoughts that may be too personal
to share in a group meeting situation.
 17

CLOSING STATEMENT
Arcadia Stockyard is dedicated to the health and wellbeing on both
their livestock and their customers. In the event of a crisis we want
to be over prepared and over protective. This Crisis Communication
Plan was made to help make a crisis clean up as easy as possible.
We hope you find this plan to be easily accessible and easy to
understand. It is important that we keep good communication with
our media outlets and news outlets in order to inform the public.
Your cooperation and understanding though-out this
unprecedented time is what will set us apart from others when
reacting to a potential crisis.

Thank you all for your dedication to the company and making this
plan so successful.

Sincerely,

Arcadia Stockyard