FLORIDA SMALL BUSINESS DEVELOPMENT CENTER AT IRSC
BUSINESSES NEED TO BE PREPARED FOR HURRICANE SEASON
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BY DIANNE GROSS
ACCORDING TO A JUNE 4 UPDATED
FORECAST BY COLORADO STATE UNIVERSITY,
THE SEASON IS PREDICTED TO BE ABOVE
NORMAL WITH 19 NAMED STORMS, NINE
HURRICANES AND FOUR MAJOR ONES.
TCBusiness.com
The Florida Small Business Development
Center at Indian River State College urges
small businesses to prepare for the 2020
Atlantic hurricane season, which runs from
June 1 to Nov. 30.
According to a June 4 updated forecast
by Colorado State University, the season
is predicted to be above normal with 19
named storms, nine hurricanes and four
major ones.
In 2019, Florida faced multiple threats
and one close catastrophe with Hurricane
Dorian, but no official landfalls impacted
the state.
The development center encourages
businesses to prepare for the upcoming
hurricane season by developing a disaster
preparedness plan. Businesses should consider
several elements in preparing for a
disaster. Not only is it important to protect
staff, their building, data, and inventory, it
is also critical to prepare a plan to continue
operations following the disaster.
A good plan may include provisions to
relocate to a pre-identified site; retrieve
data, including employee, customer and
vendor records; and develop a way to operate
efficiently with a smaller staff of key
individuals. Businesses are also strongly
encouraged to back up data and ensure
they have access to important files, such as
tax records, legal, and financial documents.
“Because the business community is already
engaged in new COVID-related procedures
— masks, social distancing and
new safety measures in retail establishments
— a whole new layer to the normal
routine in preparation for hurricane season
has been added,” SBDC marketing specialist
Katie Muldoon said. “Florida business
owners have already started backing up
files and setting up contingency plans to
reopen due to COVID-19 — which is helping
businesses be better prepared for the
upcoming hurricane season.”
The development center is a member of
the Florida SBDC Network, a public-private
partnership that leverages the resources of
higher education and economic development
to serve the needs of aspiring and
existing small businesses. As a principal
responder in the state’s Emergency Support
Function 18 for Business and Industry, the
Florida SBDC Network is a key economic development
organization that supports disaster
preparedness, recovery and mitigation
through its business continuation services.
Through the network’s service offering,
professionally certified business consultants
can help small business owners
develop comprehensive business continuity,
emergency preparedness, and disaster
recovery plans at no cost. As part of its service
offering, the Florida SBDC also offers
Bizaster, a free mobile disaster assistance
app. Bizaster, available in both English and
Spanish for Android and iOS, features risk
assessments, customizable checklists and
other resources.
In the event of a disaster, Florida SBDC
disaster specialists are available to help
businesses prepare disaster loan applications.
It will also deploy its mobile
assistance centers into communities for
affected businesses to receive on-site
assistance with disaster loans and other
post-disaster challenges.
Florida SBDCs also offer online and
in-person educational training on disaster
preparedness, tips and resources. v
Katie Muldoon serves the community and
Indian River State College as the Marketing
Specialist for the Florida SBDC at IRSC.
PREPAREDNESS RESOURCES
• Florida SBDC’s Business Continuation services and Bizaster app:
www.floridasbdc.org/services/business-continuation/
• The state’s official source of general and specific information for individuals and
businesses from the Florida Division of Emergency Management:
www.FloridaDisaster.org
• The Florida Department of Economic Opportunity’s website for access to critical
information before, during and after a disaster: www.FloridaDisaster.biz
• Small Business Administration for a hurricane preparedness checklist:
www.sba.gov/business-guide/manage-your-business/prepare-emergencies
For more information, please visit http://floridasbdc.org/; send an email to fsbdc@
irsc.edu; or call 772.336.6285.
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