In Franklin, Tennessee, the Williamson County Emergency Management Agency (EMA) is dedicated to the mitigation, preparedness, response and recovery to keep Williamson County a thriving and safe community. This is achieved through emergency services training, community programs and planning coordinated responses in advance for any hazards that may arise.
The Williamson County EMA is housed in the 53,000-square-foot Public Safety Center. Completed in 2016, the facility is built to operate 24x7 without failure and includes an Emergency Operations Center (EOC), an Emergency Communications Center (ECC) for 911 dispatch calls, as well as training rooms and administrative offices. As a command center for large scale events, the EOC contains 105 stations and is staffed with personnel from different agencies who work together to manage disasters and incidents when they arise.
The EOC was previously served by a video wall that was reaching end of life, leading Williamson County EMA to upgrade to the latest display technology with a fine pitch LED video wall from Planar. Installed by audio visual designer and integrator M3 Technology Group, the installation is a nearly 32-foot-wide, 9-foothigh (16x8) Planar® TVF Series LED video wall with a 1.5 pixel pitch (TVF1.5).
Supporting emergency decision making As the visual centerpiece of the EOC, the Planar TVF Series LED video wall plays a crucial role in displaying important information and data, helping to ensure the situational awareness of EOC personnel.
“The video wall is a huge inner piece of our operation,” said Sean Cothron, communications and technology coordinator with Williamson County EMA. “Once an event gets to be a certain size, Emergency Management gets involved. But day-to-day, the EOC is still operational and used for activities like managing hazmat crises or monitoring severe weather like snow, tornadoes or flooding. The space is also used for training and for the planning and execution of emergency services with planned events. So, there are a lot of different resources we display on the video wall.”
Content shown via multiple windows on the Planar TVF Series LED video wall can range from web content and GIS data to local and national news, the weather channel, weather radar and more. “We have ten PCs tied into it that are dedicated to displaying dashboards or information from the different applications we use to track disasters,” Cothron said.
According to Cothron, the new installation provides key support in terms of influencing the decisions made on behalf of each emergency support function. “Before, there were always seams in the video wall, but now they are gone,” he said. “Images are absolutely crisp and clear. Walking into the room, it’s really a site to behold.”
A graduate of DeVry Institute of Technology, Doug has been in the Technology industry since 1976 and actively oversees Fearing’s daily operations. Along with his wife, Lois, and three others, Doug started Fearing’s in a 600 square-foot facility in Portage, Wisconsin. In the 25 years since, the company has grown to over 30 employees with offices in Madison and Milwaukee, Wisconsin. Doug likes to say he’s a “TV Technician with a dream� going back to his history with the family’s original business-Fearing’s TV and Appliance.
Doug values time with family, watersports, hiking, snowshoeing and skiing. In addition to being a devoted member of his church, Doug serves as Board President for Kinship Mentoring of Columbia County, Board member of Schools for Haiti and Scripture Chair of the Gideons-Portage camp.
A graduate of MATC, Lois oversees Fearing’s daily book keeping along with various HR responsibilities.
Along with Doug, Lois is deeply connected to community outreach, serving as a Board member and Fundraising Committee Chairperson for Kinship Mentoring of Columbia County. She also serves on the Schools for Haiti Fundraising committee. In addition, Lois’ ongoing passion and commitment to provide care for the elderly comes from her 10-year history of working in a Reedsburg, Wisconsin Nursing home.
Lois enjoys singing, hiking, sunny days on the pontoon, and spending time with her 4 grandchildren.
Ehren drives Fearing’s technology by continually seeking out trends to enhance capabilities while supporting Sales, Engineering and Installation teams. Throughout his years with Fearing’s, Ehren’s talent and vision have joined forces to create a wide variety of projects and strategic solutions that exceed expectation.
Ehren loves music, family time, movies, nature, sustainability efforts and electric vehicles.
With 10 years with Fearing’s and over twice that long in the industry, Ben continues to lead, coordinate, and develop the Commercial AV team.
By consistently delivering an outstanding experience and outcome, Ben contributes to the Fearing’s legacy of long-lasting partnerships that truly make a difference. Whatever the Commercial AV need may be, Ben and team deliver at the highest level.
Ben is an avid fisherman and photographer. He enjoys coaching his sons and other youth.
Chris has been with Fearing’s for 20 years and in the industry for over 2 decades. As a Certified leader in Sales Acceleration and trained in EOS (Entrepreneurial Operating Systems), Chris successfully utilizes his skills to lead the Fearing’s Salesforce. Chris and team are motivated and driven to develop new client partnerships while continuing to reinforce loyal long-term relationships with ongoing Service excellence.
Married for 19 years with 3 children, Chris enjoys skiing, hiking, fishing, boating, hunting, camping and golf. He’s also been actively involved as a Youth Football and Softball coach for his family and others.
