(Miami, FL) – May 31, 2018 – The Miami-Dade Beacon Council, the county’s official public-private economic development partnership, introduces the 2018 Business Continuity plan. The effort is designed to keep new and existing businesses operational during this hurricane season. This plan is part of the One Community One Goal initiative to support community resiliency and evolved from last year’s HRBA (Hurricane Recovery Business Assistance) initiative that was implemented after Hurricane Irma.

According to FEMA, 40% of businesses never survive the economic impact of a severe storm, this year’s Business Continuity effort is focused on arming new and existing local business with the right tools enabling them to prepare and recover quickly from a disaster.

The new and revised disaster toolkit will also be an important resource that provides valuable information to business owners from access to capital to post-storm recovery, full of data and links.

“The FEMA data on the survival of businesses after a storm is of special importance to Miami-Dade County, since we lead the nation in the number of startups. Businesses are the most vulnerable during their first year of existence, so, for them and all of the other at-risk small business owners in our area, we took the initiative to help improve their survival rate,” said Miami-Dade Beacon Council President & CEO Michael Finney.

To kick off the 2018 hurricane season, the Miami-Dade Beacon Council along with the Small Business Development Center (SBDC) at FIU, Miami-Dade County, and FIU’s Pino Global Entrepreneurship Center will be hosting two business continuity & disaster preparedness webinars for business owners who want to take a proactive approach on being prepared for the Hurricane Season.

· Disaster Recovery Funding Webinar June 1st, 2018

· Register Here

· Business Continuity & Disaster Preparedness Webinar June 19th, 2018

· Register Here

In addition to the webinars, below is a compendium of links of additional resources:

· For a list of preparedness resources, please click here;

· For information regarding the Florida SBDC’s Business Continuation services and Bizaster app, please click here;

· The state’s official source of information for individuals and businesses from the Florida Division of Emergency Management, click here;

· The 2018 Disaster Preparedness Sales Tax Holiday begins Friday, June 1 and extends through Thursday, June 7. To learn more about the holiday and qualifying items, please click here;

· For a hurricane preparedness checklist and other resources from the U.S. Small Business Administration (SBA), please click here;

· International Economic Development Council (IEDC) Disaster Recovery Resources to the Economic Development Professions, click here;

· FEMA preparedness planning checklist for your business, click here.

“Local business storm victims have been an untold story. When business owners struggle providing their families with necessities like food, water and shelter, meeting the demands of maintaining a successful business becomes a secondary priority. This initiative will allow businesses in Miami-Dade to be prepared prior to the storm and remain open for business once the disaster occurs,” said Sheri Colas-Gervais, Vice President, Economic Development & Urban Initiatives at the Miami-Dade Beacon Council. “The input from the small business community is of great value to us as we continue to provide the necessary information necessary for local businesses.”

Colas-Gervais said the Business Continuity Plan is a dynamic program that will change and evolve as needed by the Miami-Dade business community.

ABOUT THE MIAMI-DADE BEACON COUNCIL

The Miami-Dade Beacon Council is Miami-Dade County’s official economic development partnership. The not-for-profit public-private organization focuses on job creation and economic growth. Since 1985, the organization has assisted more than 1,000 businesses that have created nearly 70,000 direct jobs and added more than $4.6 billion in new capital investments. It accomplishes this by marketing Miami-Dade as a world-class business location, growing local companies and fostering entrepreneurs, and shaping the County’s economic future.