City has tips for businesses to prepare for emergencies

September 21, 2017 By Paula Katinas Brooklyn Daily Eagle

The Department of Small Business Services is urging business owners to develop an emergency plan to prepare for hurricanes and other natural disasters. The photo, taken in 2016, shows Fifth Avenue in Bay Ridge. Eagle file photo by Paula Katinas

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The New York City Department of Small Business Services (SBS) is marking National Preparedness Month by making free tips available to small businesses to help prepare them for hurricane season and other emergency events, officials announced this week.

SBS can help business owners develop an emergency preparedness plan, provide a free risk assessment and apply for emergency readiness grants.

SBS offers a program called Business PREP that is open to businesses in the neighborhoods most vulnerable to extreme weather events. Under the program, a team of emergency planning and insurance experts visit businesses to review physical space, operations and insurance coverage. The experts can then offer recommendations to help businesses reduce risks in the event of a disaster or disruption.

“With hurricane season comes additional risks for all New Yorkers, including small business owners,” SBS Commissioner Gregg Bishop said in a statement. “Small business owners put their heart and soul into their work, not to mention major financial investments. By following a few important tips, business owners can be better prepared if a disaster strikes.”

The fifth anniversary of Superstorm Sandy is Oct. 29. The 2012 storm hit New York City’s coastal communities hard, flooding buildings and leaving a great deal of damage in many stores.

SBS is suggesting that business owners take the following steps to prepare for emergencies:

Make a list of the most important activities necessary to run the business, a description of the steps to complete these activities, special skills to perform the activity (for example, training, certification) and the time sensitivity of getting each activity back up and running after an interruption.
Prepare an emergency communications plan for all employees, including persons with disabilities and those with limited English language proficiency.
Design evacuation plans and emergency escape route assignments.
Make a list of important documents such as: insurance policies and contacts, building contacts and property records, bank account records and statements, tax documents, tax records and employee-related document.
List all locations where the document is stored. Make sure to have back-up copies of important documents in an alternate location and/or stored electronically.
A contact list of all employees. Include at least one method of after-hours communication to get in touch with employees.
A contact list of all vendors and suppliers.

Businesses facing a real-time emergency can call SBS at 212-618-8810.

The agency can offer a wide range of assistance, including providing business owners with the latest emergency information on street closures, utilities disruptions, security and demolitions. SBS can also assist with retrieval of valuable items and documents from the business location and coordinate with NYPD and other emergency responders to make sure the business location is secure so that losses can be prevented.

In addition, SBS can connect a business owner to local business organizations for possible relocation assistance, according to officials.

For more information on Business PREP, visit nyc.gov/businessprep.