Due to the Camp Fire, GBA’s now-former bricks-and-mortar home in Paradise, California, is no more. And yet, within a couple of days, GBA and its team were back consulting with a renewed commitment to serving nonprofits and make their missions possible.
On November 8, 2018, the town of Paradise, in which GBA is located, was the victim of a raging, wind-driven fire that started early in the morning. As a result of a “perfect storm” of extremely dry conditions and gusty winds, the blaze covered 18,000 acres in one day. The entire town and surrounding smaller communities were evacuated and several thousand structures in Paradise (a small Sierra Nevada foothill town of 27,000 people, surrounded by forests) were destroyed, including GBA headquarters. In addition, five of our close-knit staff lost their homes, though everyone was safely evacuated.
A cloud of smoke being blown west towards the coast from the city of Paradise in California due to the Camp Fire
As a consultation company largely driven by computer-based projects, emails, and phone calls, a building is almost of secondary importance these days. In fact, several members of our team not living in the Paradise area already worked remotely for GBA. Within a few days, all GBA staff followed this model and are now working from spaces throughout the state. Thanks to Gary Bess’s fortitude and loyalty to clients, both new and old, employees were given the tools they needed to carry on with their work.