Is Your Business Ready for a Disaster?
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Is Your Business Ready for a Disaster?

Is Your Business Ready for a Disaster?

Palm Bay Chamber, City of Palm Bay host Virtual Disaster Recovery Week

The United States ranks second for fatalities from natural disasters after India, according to EM-DAT’s 2016 Annual Disaster Statistical Review. As one of the world’s largest countries and with such varied landscape, the U.S. is prone to all types of natural disasters. 

For those of us living in Florida, we know June 1 is the official start of hurricane season. But we’d already had three named storms by this June 1. Mother Nature is not following the calendar, and as global warming continues, hurricane season may continue to intensify with more named storms and active hurricanes. 

Knowing this happens every year, the question is: How many businesses take the time to put a plan in place to deal with disasters?

Disasters are anything that affect the four key elements of your business operations:

  • Processes
  • Staffing
  • Location
  • Equipment and technology. 

Hurricanes/typhoons/cyclones are one element of disaster recovery that fall into the natural disaster category, along with tornados, floods, earthquakes, mudslides, fires, avalanches and more. However, there are other disasters that also can have an important impact on a business. 

COVID-19 is a disaster very few people foresaw, but businesses that had plans for disaster recovery were able to quickly pivot into a new work environment and remain resilient through the crisis. Natural disasters, cyberattacks, active shooters, power failures and strikes can have a huge impact on your business, and those who take the time to prepare for the unexpected are much more likely to deal with any disaster proactively rather than reactively.

The Greater Palm Bay Chamber of Commerce, in conjunction with the City of Palm Bay, have planned an entire Virtual Disaster Recovery Week from July 20-24. Powered by 142Productions and with title sponsor Property Renovations and Construction, LLC, preparedness, prevention, response and recovery are the overall themes for the week. The expo will have daily webinars starting with the Small Business Development Center (SBDC) providing an overview of preparation, management and resumption. They will provide a disaster planning checklist, discuss review preparation, overall risk assessment, action plans and what recovery and business resumption entails.

Tuesday will be a conversation on insurance. We all know we need to have insurance for our businesses, but what exactly should we have and what are some insurances we may not have considered?

Wednesday covers workplace safety across six main hazards categories: biological, chemical, physical, safety, ergonomic and psychosocial. How do you handle keeping your customers and employees safe?

Thursday covers preparation for computer security to ensure hackers are not able to access your information and what protocols to put in place for backups.

Friday’s schedule covers recovery and mitigation; knowing what you are required to do to mitigate the damage and who you should call for help if your insurance is not covering the damage.

Learn more:

Virtual Disaster Recovery Week

July 20-24

Visit GreaterPalmBayChamber.com or call 321-951-9998

Sponsorships available

 

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