Hagerty Consulting has announced the addition of Michael (Mike) Sprayberry as the company’s Senior Advisor for Emergency Management. Prior to joining Hagerty, Sprayberry spent more than 42 years in public service, including more than 15 years in various leadership roles within the State of North Carolina’s Division of Emergency Management (NCDEM) – eight of which he served as the Division’s Director while also leading the state’s Office of Recovery and Resiliency and serving as the state’s Deputy Homeland Security Advisor.
“Mike is a proven and distinguished emergency manager and a true leader in our field,” said Founder and CEO, Steve Hagerty. “Throughout his career, Mike has always been willing to share lessons learned as well as lend advice and provide support to others. His leadership and experience will be invaluable to our clients and the communities they serve.”
“I am honored to join Hagerty Consulting at such a pivotal moment for our profession,” said Sprayberry. “I take great pride in helping state and local governments find unique solutions to the disaster management challenges they are facing, and I am excited to continue contributing to the advancement of emergency management in this new capacity.”
As the Director of NCDEM, Mike successfully led the State of North Carolina’s response and recovery efforts for 19 state declared disasters and 13 federally declared disasters, including catastrophic Hurricane Florence, now known as North Carolina’s “Storm of Record.” Mike also led North Carolina’s response to and recovery from winter storms, earthquakes, and the COVID-19 pandemic. Additionally, under Mike’s leadership, North Carolina became one of only 15 states to achieve the Federal Emergency Management Agency’s (FEMA) Enhanced State Hazard Mitigation Plan status, thereby granting the state access to millions of dollars in additional federal funding to build resiliency against future disasters and hazards.
“Mike is one of the most adaptive and innovative emergency managers I have ever met,” said Hagerty Executive Chairman and former FEMA Administrator, Brock Long. “Throughout his career, Mike has operated in a collaborative, non-partisan fashion and, as a result, has accomplished so much. During his tenure as Director in North Carolina, he served two Governors, from separate political parties, and established a uniquely unprecedented housing mitigation/ buy-out program for the state in the wake of Hurricane Florence. I am looking forward to continuing to work with him in this new role.”
Notably, while Director of NCDEM, Mike also served as the President of the National Emergency Management Association (NEMA) from 2017-2018. In this role, Mike advocated for federal policy changes that helped progress the field of emergency management, including support for the passage of the Disaster Recovery Reform Act of 2018 which made pre-disaster mitigation a national priority and bolstered state and local emergency management capabilities.
Mike holds bachelor’s and master’s degrees from the University of North Carolina at Charlotte. His achievements in emergency management and beyond have been well documented and include being the recipient of two departmental Secretary’s Gold Circle Awards; the North Carolina Emergency Management Association Colonel William A. Thompson Award for Outstanding Achievement in Emergency Management; the North Carolina Housing Coalition Public Official of the Year; the North Carolina Association of County Commissioners Friend of the Counties; the NEMA Presidential Citation; as well as the NEMA Lacey E. Suiter Distinguished Service Award. He is also a proud member of the North Carolina National Guard Officer Candidate School Hall of Fame.
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