Domestic terrorism preparedness is a high-level agenda item for federal, state, and local governments, yet the academic literature suggests that many local governments may not be prepared to respond effectively to such an attack. The purpose of this quantitative study was twofold: first to measure the terrorism-preparedness posture of municipal first response agencies in a north-central state, and second, to determine whether leaders in that state adequately meet the challenge of continued organizational change. Using Schein's conceptualization of organizational culture change, the research questions for this study focused on the assessment of terrorism-preparedness posture and organizational challenges of first response agencies. Municipal public safety agencies were randomly sampled using a modified version of RAND Corporation's Combating Terrorism Survey to measure terrorism-preparedness factors and compare organizational leadership challenges since September 11, 2001. Regression analysis examined the independent variables of processes (communication, planning, and training), resources (spending, equipment), personnel, and organizational culture relative to the dependent variable of terrorism preparedness. Findings indicate that first response agencies are slightly better prepared today than they were on 9/11 to respond to an act of terrorism and that processes are a stronger predictor than resources or personnel. Additionally, organizational culture is negatively correlated to terrorism preparedness in first response public safety agencies. The positive social change implications of this study provide local first responders with better information related to terrorism preparedness such that communities are better protected in the event of a terrorist attack.