Accredited agencies and credentialed professionals have found that banding together to form regional consortiums is an effective networking opportunity. Listed below are the existing consortiums including what regions they cover, who to contact for more information, and details on their meeting frequency and location.
Region Covered: Arizona
Official Name: Arizona Fire/EMS Continuous Improvement Consortium
Contacts:
Holger Durre, Fire Chief, City of Prescott Fire & Medical Department, holger.durre@prescott-az.gov
Andrea Glass, Assistant Chief/AM, Tempe Fire Medical Rescue Department, andrea_glass@tempe.gov
Nic Cunningham, Captain/AM, Buckeye Fire Medical Rescue Department, ncunningham@buckeyeaz.gov
Frequency of Meetings: Quarterly
Meeting Locations: In coordination with CPSE workshops or AZ Fire Chiefs Conference
Region Covered: Arkansas
Official Name: The Natural State Accreditation Consortium
Contacts: Bo Hagar, Accreditation Manager, Little Rock Fire Department, thagar@littlerock.gov, and Dustin McDonald, Captain, Springdale Fire Department, dmcdonald@springdalear.gov
Frequency of Meetings: Quarterly
Meeting Locations: Little Rock Fire Department Training Center
Region Covered: California
Official name: California Fire Rescue Accreditation and Credentialing Consortium
Primary contact: Adam Panos, Deputy Fire Marshal, San Bernadino County Fire Protection District, APanos@SBCFire.org
Secondary contact: Sofia Ortiz, Administrative & Preparedness Manager, Yocha Dehe Fire Department, sortiz@yochadehe.gov; Lizy Silva, Sr. Management Analyst, Cosumnes Fire Department, LizySilva@CosumnesCSD.gov
Region Covered: Canada
Official Name: Canada Consortium
Primary Contact: Dawn Dixon, Manager of Accreditation and Continuous Improvement, Edmonton Fire Rescue Services, dawn.dixon@edmonton.ca
Secondary Contacts: Monty Armstrong, Assistant Fire Chief- Public Safety, District of North Vancouver Fire and Rescue, armstrongm@dnv.org
Frequency of Meetings: Quarterly
Region Covered: All Department of Defense Agencies
Official Name: DOD Accreditation and Credentialing Consortium
Frequency of Meetings: Quarterly
Meeting Locations: Virtually or in-person at CPSE Excellence Conference
Region Covered: State of Florida
Official Name: Florida Association for Fire Accreditation and Professional Credentialing
State of Florida Consortium Coordinators
Corey Bowles
Lake Mary Fire Department
Assistant Chief
cbowles@lakemaryfl.com
c: 321.246.2767
Jodie Ramirez
Compliance & Accreditation Manager
Broward County Sheriff – Fire Rescue and Emergency Services
Jodie_Ramirez@sheriff.org
w: 954-831-8910
Beth Stuglik
Fire Administration Manager
Palm Beach Gardens Fire Rescue
bstuglik@pbgfl.com
w: 561-799-4356
Brett Ciskoski
District Chief
St. Petersburg Fire & Rescue
brett.ciskoski@stpete.org
w: 727-893-7688
Region Covered: State of Georgia
Official Name: Georgia Association for Fire Accreditation and Professional Credentialing
Primary Contact: April Draper, Accreditation Program Coordinator, Covington Fire Department, adraper@cityofcovington.org
Secondary Contact: Joseph Bryant, Captain, Cobb County Fire and Emergency Services, josephdaniel.bryant@
Region Covered: States of Illinois and Wisconsin
Official Name: Great Lakes Fire Accreditation Managers
Contacts: Mike Kressuk, CFO, Fire Chief, Oak Creek (WI) Fire Department, mkressuk@oakcreekwi.gov and Rebecca Tyo, FO, Lieutenant, Rockford (IL) Fire Department, Rebecca.Tyo@rockfordil.gov
Frequency of Meetings: Quarterly
Region Covered: States of Iowa, North Dakota and South Dakota
Contact: Matt Sonnenburg, Deputy Chief, West Des Moines Fire Department, matt.sonnenburg@wdm.iowa.gov.
Frequency of Meetings: Quarterly
Region Covered: States of Kansas, Missouri, Nebraska, Oklahoma
Official Name: The Heart of America Accreditation Task Force
Chair Contact: Joey Heidman, Division Chief, Olathe Fire Department, wjheideman@olatheks.org, 913-971-7900
Vice Chair Contact: Justin Ducey, Division Chief/Fire Marshal, City of Leawood Fire Department, jducey@leawood.org , 913-944-9753
Secretary: Theron Hawley, Training Chief, Overland Park Fire Department, theron.hawley@opkansas.org , 913-895-8407
Frequency of Meetings: Quarterly
Location of Meetings: Varies
Michigan, Ohio, Indiana, Kentucky
Region Covered: States of Indiana, Kentucky, Michigan and Ohio
Official Name: Michigan – Ohio – Indiana – Kentucky Accreditation and Professional Credentialing Consortium
Website: www.moiconsortium.com
Contacts: Dave Dauer, Battalion Chief (ret), Toledo (OH) Fire and Rescue Department, dave.dauer@bex.com and Trevor Wilson, CFO, Division Chief of Planning, Indianapolis (IN) Fire Department, trevor.wilson@indy.gov
Location of Meetings: Varies
Region Covered: Nevada
Official Name: Nevada Accreditation and Credentialing Consortium
Primary Contact: James Johnston, Deputy Fire Chief, Elko City Fire Department, jjohnston@elkocitynv.gov
Frequency of Meetings: Quarterly
Location of Meetings: Varies
Region Covered: State of North Carolina
Official Name: North Carolina Accreditation Support Consortium
Primary Contact: David Farnum – Division Chief, Charlotte Fire Department, David.Farnum@charlottenc.gov
Secondary Contacts: Ryan Campbell – Administrative Division Manager, Chapel Hill NC Fire, Rcampbell@TownofChapelHill.Org
Frequency of Meetings: Typically, quarterly on the 2nd Wednesday of the month
Location of Meetings: Greensboro Training Facility
Region Covered: Pacific Northwest (Idaho, Montana, Oregon, Washington)
Official Name: Northwest Accreditation & Credentialing Consortium
Primary Contact: Mike Messer, Assistant Chief, Snohomish Regional Fire & Rescue
mike.messer@srfr.org, Office: 360-217-2153 Cell: 425-328-6962
Secondary Contact: Lisa Sjoden, Program Manager, Renton Regional Fire Authority, lsjoden@rentonrfa.
Frequency of Meetings: Quarterly, 2nd Monday of January, April, July, and October from 0900 to 1200 PST via Zoom
Region Covered: States of Colorado, Wyoming, New Mexico, Utah
Official Name: Rocky Mountain Accreditation and Professional Credentialing Consortium
Primary Contact: Xavier Anderson, Accreditation Manager, Los Alamos Fire Department, office: 505-662-8328, cell: 505-670-3435, xavier.anderson@lacnm.us
Secondary Contact: Andy Kovacs, Fire Chief, Monument Fire District, office: 719-484-0911, cell: 719-238-6492, akovacs@monumentfire.org
Frequency of Meetings: Quarterly
Location of Meetings: Rotates to different geographic regions of CO
Other Info: The consortium’s goal is to support agencies that are interested in pursuing accreditation, from the initial interest to maintaining accreditation with educational opportunities, real-world problem solving, mock site visits, and mentoring. A secondary goal is to support individuals achieve professional credentialing with education, mentors and application review.
Region Covered: State of South Carolina
Official Name: South Carolina Accreditation Consortium
Primary Contact: Rhett Livingston, Battalion Chief /Accreditation Manager, Bluffton Township Fire District, Bluffton, SC livingston@blufftonfd.com
Frequency of Meetings: Quarterly
Location of Meetings: Upcoming location decided at conclusion of current meeting
Region Covered: State of Tennessee
Official Name: The Tennessee Fire Credentialing and Accreditation Consortium (TFCA)
Primary Contacts: Derek Hyde, Brentwood Fire & Rescue, derek.hyde@brentwoodtn.gov/ Jason Powell, Johnson City Fire Departments, jpowell@johnsoncitytn.org
Secondary Contact: Brian Goss, CFO, Fire Chief, Brentwood Fire and Rescue Department, Brian.goss@brentwoodtn.gov, 615-371-0170
Frequency of Meetings: Quarterly in conjunction with TN Fire Chiefs Association
Location of Meetings: Determined by location of quarterly and annual meetings of the TN Fire Chiefs Association
Other Info: TFCA promotes the CPSE credentialing and accreditation processes as personal and organizational development tools, and encourages all agencies to engage in the models regardless of whether or not the end goal is to actually achieve accreditation and/or credentialing.
Region Covered: State of Texas
Official Name: Center for Public Safety Excellence – Texas Consortium
Primary Contact: Leonard Chan, Accreditation & Compliance Coordinator, Management Analyst, Houston Fire Department, leonard.chan@houstontx.gov
Secondary Contact: Dennis Redd, Assistant Chief, El Paso Fire Department, redddr@elpasotexas.gov
Frequency of Meetings: Triannual
Location of Meetings: Meetings may be through the internet, teleconference, or in-person.
Region Covered: Commonwealth of Virginia
Official Name: Virginia Consortium for Excellence in Emergency Services
Primary Contact: Amy Valdez, Battalion Chief, Virginia Beach Fire Department, avaldez@vbgov.com, 757-285-4211
Secondary Contact: Joe Beavan, Accreditation Manager, Alexandria Fire Department, joe.beavan@alexandriava.gov, 703-746-5238
Frequency of Meetings: Quarterly