"Adapt to Improve"

Elite Business Strategies (EBS) is a company that meets and exceeds consumer expectations. CEO Princess Ousley believes they do this through operational excellence, research, practice, and technology. EBS is a people-centered organization in its operations as well as its outreach. The leadership of EBS exemplifies these principles. They don’t consider themselves businesspeople; they think of themselves as being in the business of people.

Princess Ousley is as unique as an individual as she is as a member of her chosen industry. EBS is one of the few emergency management (EM) firms in the country that is owned by a woman. Their core values are advocacy and representation.

Princess Ousley will be the first one to say she’s no storyteller. Her story, however, is compelling and indicative of her understanding of history. As a woman in America, she is part of a tradition of emergency management. From their roles in the field, housekeeping, childcare, and managing families, movements, and eventually organizations, women have always been emergency managers.

Early in her career in emergency management, she realized the most devastating impacts from disasters went well beyond the visible damage to structures and homes. The true damage was what happened to the people who were unprepared for the arrival of a disaster and unequipped for recovery afterward. The faces of people she assisted in the wake of Hurricane Katrina showed her their vulnerability, and lack of resources. These were people who were already marginalized by society and uncomfortable dealing with officials who did not reflect their identity. One of the reasons EBS maintains a large cadre of personnel on standby is so that wherever services are required there will be people who reflect the community they are serving.

 

Ms. Ousley not only seeks representation in field personnel, but she also wants to instill this in the next generation of business leaders. She is the founder of Bridge 365, a non-profit mentoring and incubator organization. Bridge 365 provides resources, infrastructure, and support to aspiring entrepreneurs. Using her relatable, real-world approach, she serves as a presenter, trainer, and facilitator. She provides coaching and insight into navigating government contracts and building businesses. She is also a regular speaker at industry meetings, symposiums, workshops, and conferences.

As a strategist, Ms. Ousley takes one very important lesson from nature: to remain flexible and adapt to rapidly changing conditions. After a storm, the trees that moved with the wind survived, while the inflexible trees that one would perceive as stronger, were the ones that broke and fell. So, EBS keeps a large staff that can move quickly, and technology that lets all operations and logistics be handled in the field.

EBS quickly and efficiently grew from a Florida-centric firm to a national one by hiring the right team, opening satellite offices in the right markets, and contracting with the right vendors and suppliers who share their customer-centric vision. Securing relationships and contracts across the country makes EBS a real player in the industry. Since 2017, the EBS myEliteProducts division has held the State of Florida office supplies and consumables contract, which has served as a launching pad for their national products and services goals. The size of this Florida contract allowed us to build a network that allows us to offer customers stock from 54+ distribution centers across the United States that carry over 1,000 manufacturers. The company processes orders with 98% in-stock availability, 99.7% order accuracy, and a 98.5% next-day delivery rate.

E3 Construction was established in 2018 to address community redevelopment and to curb the disaster-induced gentrification that occurred storm after storm. By approaching construction through a diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) lens, EBS is able to develop and rebuild neighborhoods based on community feedback and goals. E3 Construction uses a creative, collaborative approach to provide quality solutions that support the communities’ goals and with respect to the fiscal responsibilities and obligations of the identified funding sources. EBS's work results in healthy and resilient communities by acting as a bridge between the community and the government.

The unique approach and capabilities of EBS have been utilized in several critical events with great success. By focusing on the needs of DEI, EBS was able to facilitate significant impacts in communities previously omitted from health and safety initiatives. The difference between EBS and other emergency management groups can be seen in a few of their successes:

The Educate and Vaccinate Initiative of the Commonwealth of Virginia- Using a data-driven approach to identify and connect with minority and rural communities, EBS formed a coalition of organizations best suited to reach this population with COVID-19 vaccine education. Within 90 days of this initiative, Virginia’s rank in vaccinating these populations went from 48th to within the top 10. This improvement received recognition from the White House, FEMA, and national media.

City of Roanoke – Youth Gang Violence Community Assessment- EBS once again used a community outreach strategy to facilitate accurate and actionable data collection needed to shape a comprehensive strategy to address gang violence. By publishing surveys in seven languages, providing them with digital access, and distributing copies in community hubs, EBS ensured the surveys reached the youth and community members most critical to data collection. The data that came out of this was put into a full report that the city is using to focus its efforts and decide where to put money.

FEMA: Hurricane Maria Response in Puerto Rico- When Hurricane Maria made landfall on Puerto Rico on September 7, 2017, it was a Category 4 hurricane with sustained winds of 155 mph. With 15 percent of the population being 65 years or older and 2 percent of Puerto Rico’s seniors living in nursing homes or assisted living facilities, FEMA quickly recognized a humanitarian need to get personal toiletry articles to the impacted facilities. The FEMA Region 2 Caribbean Area Division solicited vendors to support this recovery mission by providing all labor, management, transportation, and safety oversight for the delivery of commodities within 7 business days to the island. EBS was happy to answer that call and send over 150,000 toiletries. As a result, more than 100 semi-truck loads of supplies were sent on time to Puerto Rico to help the nursing homes there.

Time and again, Princess Ousley and Elite Business Strategies seek to make communities whole, not just make them better. Instead of simply restoring what was damaged, EBS sought to establish resilience and prepare communities to better withstand any future threats. EBS has evolved over the last decade to address the changing economic and housing climate. When leaders at EBS discovered that there was a void in products and equipment getting to underserved communities, they created a products division (myEliteProducts) and began shipping products. When they saw firsthand how low-income communities and communities of color struggled to recover and how neighborhoods and homes were lost because of a lack of service providers, they established E3 Construction and Remediation (E3) to bridge the gap. Both divisions also serve to create job opportunities for people who are underrepresented, which has an economic impact directly on their local communities.

In the ongoing drive to provide access and inclusion, EBS is updating the myEliteProducts eCommerce website with enhanced communication and virtual reality chat capabilities.

When the myEliteProducts credit card is used, it will help small businesses grow by giving them access to bigger lines of credit and more help with their operations.

The ongoing plan for EBS is to go beyond raising awareness and advocacy for diversity, equity, and inclusion. At EBS, the obligation felt to others is for advocacy, empathy, and inspiration. EBS doesn’t come in and say, "We’ll make things better for you"; they say, "We’ll make things better with you."