ChicagoFIRST is a nonprofit association that provides critical firms a collaborative forum to address private sector resilience and emergency management planning and response with relevant local, regional, and national public sector agencies. Full time staff provide situational awareness, working groups, exercises, and roundtable discussions for members to explore best practices; test their cyber, business continuity and physical security emergency response plans; and effectively align and integrate their preparedness and crisis response with the public sector. In these trusted venues, members identify challenges and engage in collaborative solution-based discussions addressing risk management, emergency preparedness, response, and resilience. Through longstanding relationships with the public sector, ChicagoFIRST takes a leadership role at the local, state and federal levels, representing resiliency issues of importance to members. Formed in 2003, private firms constitute ChicagoFIRST’s membership, govern its operations, fund its activities, and manage its staff. ChicagoFIRST’s staff addresses risk management issues affecting each firm by acting as an extension of each member’s team. A Crisis is No Time to Exchange Business Cards!