Governor Spanberger Hosts Virginia's First Unified Readiness Summit

Governor Abigail Spanberger hosted Virginia's first statewide Unified Readiness Summit on Wednesday at the Richmond Raceway in Henrico. Nearly 1,000 representatives from 30 disciplines, including law enforcement, healthcare, agriculture, and the National Guard, gathered to develop actionable solutions for emergency preparedness against cyberattacks, mass violence, and natural disasters.

The summit follows seven regional meetings that identified critical gaps in communication, workforce, operational capacity, and joint planning. This initiative builds upon the Virginia Unified Readiness Framework established by Executive Order 19 in August, which aims to unify state and local governments, private-sector organizations, and first responders under a single governance model for crisis response.

Governor Spanberger stated that the findings from the summit will inform future executive actions and legislation developed in coordination with the General Assembly. The event focused on the necessity of integrating diverse disciplines to ensure the Commonwealth can respond effectively when an incident overwhelms the capacity of a single agency or locality.