Get Your Business Ready For Disaster With Free Webinars

The US Small Business Administration and Agility Recovery are offering two free online webinars on disaster preparedness this month to business owners in Hawaii.

The series, which is offered to business owners across the country, is presented in collaboration with FEMA’s Ready Campaign, as part of National Preparedness Month.

The first of two webinars is Wednesday, September 19, at 10 a.m. HST (2 p.m. EST) entitled “Utilization of Social Media During a Crisis.”

The second free webinar will be held Wednesday, September 26, 10 a.m. HST (2 p.m. EST), entitled “Surviving a Crisis, Large or Small: Real Life Lessons Learned.”

The Big Island is especially vulnerable to a variety of natural disasters, including earthquakes, lava flows, tsunamis, wildfires, and hurricanes.

A 6.7 magnitude earthquake in 2006 off West Hawaii caused $200 million in damage while last year’s tsunami caused $18.3 million in damage on the Big Island alone.

And while a hurricane has not struck the Big Island in recent years, Hawaii recently observed the 20^th anniversary of Hurricane Iniki, which caused $1.8 billion in damage and killed eight people when it struck Kauai on September 11, 1992.

Regardless of the type of disaster, business interruptions, even if it lasts just a few hours, cost business owners greatly in terms of lost productivity and profits.

SBA wants to help business owners take charge of the well-being of their own companies, the safety of their employees, and the sustenance of their local economies by being prepared to rebound quickly from any kind of disaster.

During the webinars, business owners who recovered from disasters discuss their proactive emergency planning. A question and answer session will follow each of the presentations.

Go to http://www2.agilityrecovery.com/npm to register for any of the webinars.

SBA has partnered with Agility to offer business continuity strategies through their “PrepareMyBusiness” website. Visit www.preparemybusiness.org to access past webinars and for useful preparedness tools.