Survey Reveals Significant Gaps In Small Businesses’ Disaster Preparedness

Half of small businesses have not taken action to prepare for disasters that are prone to happen in their areas, according to a new survey from FedEx Corp. (NYSE: FDX) and the American Red Cross. In addition, slightly more than half (51 percent) have not practiced evacuations or other emergency drills, and almost half (47 percent) have not communicated employee roles for the business in a disaster.

Further, while 40 percent of small businesses do not believe they could fully recover within six months if their business was completely destroyed in a disaster, fewer than one third (29 percent) of those surveyed are prepared if a disaster disrupts their business for just one month.

Additionally, the majority of small businesses may not fully realize how a disaster could impact one of their greatest resources—their employees. Seventy-seven percent have not taken steps to encourage employees to create disaster preparedness plans for their homes and families.

“Many small businesses put off disaster preparation because of concerns about lack of resources or expertise,” said Rose Flenorl, manager, Global Citizenship, FedEx Services. “But some simple, inexpensive steps can go a long way toward helping businesses be prepared if disaster strikes. The survey found that 77 percent of small businesses would be more likely to take action to prepare for disaster if they were provided with educational materials. That’s why we’ve teamed up with the Red Cross to host a virtual roundtable to share our expertise around preparedness.”

On May 22, the one-year anniversary of the devastating EF-5 tornado that hit the Joplin area, FedEx will host a virtual roundtable to share insights and answer questions on how small businesses can prepare for a disaster. The event will feature experts from FedEx, the Red Cross and the Joplin Area Chamber of Commerce (JACC) and will be hosted on the FedEx Facebook page at http://facebook.com/fedex. While participants will connect virtually, the experts will gather in Joplin at 11:30 a.m. CDT.

For those unable to attend the roundtable live, recordings of the discussion will be available on the FedEx Facebook page following the event. Additionally, there will be a rebroadcast of the roundtable at 6 p.m. CDT on May 22 with at least one panelist available to answer questions via the Facebook page.

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