The Importance of Small Business Continuity Planning When Preparing for Extreme Weather Events

Business continuity planning is a critical and often overlooked component of extreme weather preparedness. In this session, hosted by the National Adaptation Forum's Virtual Forum, the speakers describe business continuity planning, why it’s important to community-level resilience, and share examples from across the country.
Peter Plumeau (Reframe Lab) offers insights and examples from the “ClimateReadyVT” program, which helps Vermont small businesses create climate resilience strategies and action plans. ClimateReadyVT is hosted by Vermont Businesses for Social Responsibility (VBSR) and designed and facilitated by Reframe Lab, LLC.
Tracie Sempier (Mississippi-Alabama Sea Grant Consortium) focuses on how your community can partner with local businesses to ensure they are ready for storm events utilizing a Business Continuity Plan (i.e., resources are staged before/after disaster events, flood zones are identified). Tracie discusses planning strategies to enhance a business’s ability to recover after natural or man-made disasters, including distribution of goods, cross-training staff, and obtaining necessary re-entry passes.
Speaker
Peter Plumeau, Partner, Reframe Lab
Tracie Sempier, Resilience Engagement Lead, Mississippi-Alabama Sea Grant Consortium
Moderator
Daniella Rolle, National Adaptation Forum Program Associate, EcoAdapt and CivicSpark Fellow, CivicSpark
This session is part of the Virtual Forum series "Moving Towards Preparedness for Extreme Weather Events." This series would not have been possible without the generous support of the CO2 Foundation. We encourage you to learn more about their work at CO2Foundation.org.