SBA, Women’s Business Center to hold disaster-planning workshop in Utica

UTICA  — The U.S. Small Business Administration (SBA) and the Women’s Business Center of New York State have scheduled a disaster-planning workshop for Mohawk Valley business owners.

The event, titled “When Disaster Strikes, Is Your Business Ready,” is set for Sept. 19 from 8:30 a.m. to 9:30 a.m. at the Radisson Hotel-Utica Centre in downtown Utica, the SBA said.

The agency and the American Red Cross of the Mohawk Valley will present tips and techniques for disaster preparation. Local business owners will also share lessons they learned after dealing with conditions following Hurricane Irene and other storms that hit the area, the SBA said in a news release.

“When disaster strikes, it can devastate a business that took years to build. Spending one hour to get your business ready for a crisis could be the most important decision you make all year. We encourage Mohawk Valley business owners to remember the flooding that hit many businesses last summer and take this opportunity to plan ahead during national-preparedness month,” Bernard J. Paprocki, director of the SBA Syracuse district office, said in the release.

The SBA cites data from the Tampa, Fla.–based Institute for Business and Home Safety indicating around 25 percent of businesses do not reopen after a major disaster hits.

The disaster could include flood damage or the loss of sensitive data from a hacked email account.

The manner of a company’s response within the first few hours of the crisis can “make or break” a small business, the SBA contends.