SYRACUSE – The City of Norwich has received a Governor’s Award for Excellence in Emergency Management.

John R. Gibb, chairman of the state Disaster Preparedness Commission (DPC) and acting commissioner of the Division of Homeland Security and Emergency Services (HSES) presented the New York State Disaster Preparedness Commission Governor’s Award to Norwich Emergency Management Director A. Wesley Jones Tuesday Nov. 9 during a dinner in Syracuse.

Gibb cited the Norwich Emergency Management Office in particular for its innovation in developing communication efforts for notifying and alerting residents about the importance of emergency preparedness and the potential for disasters through implementation of a new social media, Web 2.0.

“Mr. Jones is to be commended for using Facebook and Twitter in addition to conventional means to broadcast information to the people he serves,” Gibb said, noting it is “essential that public safety agencies have viable means of communicating with the public, especially in times of emergency.”

Norwich was the first emergency management office in the state to actively use Twitter as a means of disseminating emergency information and the second in New York to use Facebook, Jones said. It also was the first city in the State to achieve designation as a National Weather Service StormReady Community from the National Weather Service.

“On behalf of the City and community of Norwich, I would like to extend our appreciation for awarding the 2010 Governor's Award for Excellence in Emergency Management to the City of Norwich,” commented Norwich Mayor Joseph P. Maiurano.