Florida SBDC Network State Office (Pensacola, Fla.) – The Florida SBDC Network, the state’s principal provider of small business assistance, urges small businesses to prepare for the 2024 Atlantic hurricane season, which begins June 1 and extends through November 30.
According to a forecast by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), the 2024 Atlantic hurricane season is predicted to be above-normal, with a range of 17 to 25 total named storms. Of those, 8 to 13 are forecast to become hurricanes, including four to seven major hurricanes. The Florida SBDC Network encourages businesses to develop and review their disaster preparedness plan and make necessary preparations for the season.
“As hurricane season begins, all small businesses should take time now to develop a preparedness plan,” said Greg Britton, state director of the Florida SBDC Network. “No storm should be taken lightly and all small businesses owners should prepare each year no matter the forecast.”
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 a way to operate efficiently with a smaller staff of key individuals.
The Florida SBDC also strongly encourages businesses to back up data and ensure they have access to important files, such as tax records, legal, and financial documents.
As a principal responder in the state’s Emergency Support Function (ESF) 18 for Business & Industry, the Florida SBDC Network helps small businesses prepare for and recover from disasters.
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. Florida SBDCs also offer training on disaster preparedness, templates, tips, and resources.
In the event of a disaster, Florida SBDC disaster specialists help affected businesses prepare disaster loan applications. The network 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.
Preparedness resources
- For preparedness resources from the Florida SBDC Network, please visit https://floridasbdc.org/services/consulting/preparedness/.
- There will be two disaster preparedness sales tax holidays this year. The first runs June 1 - June 14. The second runs August 24 - September 6. For more information, please visit https://floridarevenue.com/disasterprep.
- www.FloridaDisaster.org – The state’s official source of information for individuals and businesses from the Florida Division of Emergency Management.
- https://floridajobs.org/floridadisaster.biz - FloridaCommerce’s website to provide businesses access to critical information before, during, and after a disaster.
- For a hurricane preparedness checklist and other resources from the U.S. Small Business Administration (SBA), please click here.
For more information about the Florida SBDC Network and to find an SBDC near you, please visit www.FloridaSBDC.org.
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