Disaster Recovery for Small Business

After experiencing a disaster or other emergency, seven out of ten small businesses never recover. Business disruption can be caused as much by indirect impacts, such as road closures, loss of water and power supply, and the inability of suppliers to deliver goods and services to your business. However, economic recovery for small businesses in a disaster zone is critical to recovery of the disaster stricken community.

SBDC personnel often are more familiar than any other entity with the local small business economy and the various community resources available to assist small businesses. Trained SBDC advisors have the skill sets and the experience to assist small business owners in reconstructing lost or destroyed business financial records, which are necessary in making a successful filing for SBA loans and other financial assistance.

The NYS SBDC has experience with small business disaster response and recovery. The ice storm that crippled Northern New York in 1998, the terrorist attacks that immobilized business in lower Manhattan in 2001, and the floods that paralyzed the Southern Tier in 2006, and the blackout in Queens in the summer of 2006 are just a few recent examples of disasters that have dramatically affected small businesses in New York. In each case, the SBDC has been there to help businesses assess the situation, re-launch, and plan for the future.

Following the terrorist attack on the World Trade Center in Manhattan on September 11, 2001, the SBDC immediately began delivering disaster recovery assistance to small- and medium-sized businesses physically and economically impacted by the disaster.  Through its 15 downstate centers and additional temporary assistance centers, SBDC Business Advisors worked directly with small business owners, helping them fill out applications for SBA Disaster Assistance Loans and working with them to reconfigure their businesses for the future. Business Advisors from SBDC regional offices across New York State volunteered their help in Metropolitan New York.

The SBDC and the New York State Business Development Corporation partnered to establish and promote the World Trade Center Small Business Recovery Fund (WTCSBRF), a nonprofit corporation established to provide working capital loans to impacted small businesses to facilitate economic recovery. The WTCSBRF targets specifically those small businesses that do not qualify for other forms of emergency funding relief. Founding sponsors of the WTCSBRF include American Express, Deutsche Bank, and Principal Financial Group. The Fund continues to provide loans to help small businesses and the small business community of New York City to grow stronger.

If you own a business in New York State that has been physically or economically impacted by a disaster, your first stop should be your local SBDC. If you don’t know where to find the closest SBDC, call 1-800-732-7232 for assistance.