ERIC E. HOLDEMAN

Eric Holdeman joined King County, Washington State in 1996, and is currently serving as the Director, King County Office of Emergency Management (OEM). He is responsible for emergency management and E-911 regional support to all areas of King County (which is the greater metropolitan area of the City of Seattle), and for facilitating regional coordination between levels of government and emergency management programs in the public and private sectors. Establishing public and private disaster prevention and preparedness partnerships with businesses in the Puget Sound region and building "Disaster Resistant Communities" continues to be a major area of emphasis for him. He has been designated the Homeland Security Coordinator for the King County Executive. In 2005 King County was given a national award by the National Association of Counties (NACo) for establishing a "Regional Approach to Homeland Security." Additionally, the 9/11 Commission recognized the King County Regional Disaster Response Plan as a "Best Practice" for integrating the private business sector into community-wide disaster planning.

Projects that his office has participated in are: Homeland Security to include, regional coordination and administration of numerous homeland security grants, including Urban Area Security Initiative (UASI) grants, totaling over $34M; exercise design and participation in the national counter terrorism exercise (TOPOFF 2); regional disaster response, critical infrastructure and mitigation planning processes for King County; construction and occupation of a new $30M Regional communications and emergency coordination center; and establishing multi-county mutual aid agreements. He also produces and hosts a monthly television show focusing on disaster prevention and response which is shown on 28 local and statewide government cable channels. The King County OEM web site is nationally recognized as one of the best. Eric has an official "Blog" called "Eric's Corner" that is updated weekly with news and information pertinent to the broader emergency management and response communities.

Immediately prior to assuming his position in King County he worked for the Washington State Division of Emergency Management for five years. While with Washington State Eric served in a number of increasingly responsible supervisory positions in the areas of operations, training, public education, disaster exercises, and plans. Previously Eric completed a 20-year career in the US Army as an Infantry Officer. While in the military, he served in a variety of demanding assignments in which he developed and managed operation centers and was responsible for contingency planning. Additionally, in other positions he managed community training and developed emergency preparedness exercises. He is a graduate of Concordia University, River Forest, Illinois, where he was awarded a Bachelor of Arts in Education.

Eric is a Past President of the Washington State Emergency Management Association (WSEMA). This is a group of public and private emergency managers dedicated to their profession of preventing, preparing for, responding to, and recovering from emergencies and disasters.

Eric is married to Mary (Brower) Holdeman. Their home is in Puyallup, Washington. He and his wife have two adult children, Elliot and Emily, and two grandsons Cameron and Colin. Eric is also an avid gardener with his home garden being featured in several Sunset Magazine publications. To unwind, he rides a Harley motorcycle (a black, 2004, fuel injected, SOFTAIL Duce) when he gets some spare time and it is not raining.