Preparedness For a Resilient Economy

by Maria S. Salinas

Los Angeles small businesses have faced incredible adversity and seemingly insurmountable challenges over the past few years. From the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic to global economic uncertainty, we are mindful of the headwinds ahead. While we cannot prevent economic or natural disasters from happening, we can ensure our businesses — especially small businesses — are prepared to withstand them.

Planning and preparedness mitigate risk and ensure a quicker recovery from natural disasters. Fostering resiliency in large and small enterprises is sound business practice. Resilience doesn’t happen overnight — it is a journey and a process which takes time, collaboration and preparedness. It’s important for all businesses, large and small, to build these steps into the business plan.

Our small businesses are the backbone of our community, and when they struggle, we feel it. To help our region deal with unavoidable adversity, I was honored to host a press conference with Administrator Isabella Casillas Guzman, head of the U.S. Small Business Administration (SBA) and Evan Reis, Executive Director of the U.S. Resiliency Council (USRC) to announce a new partnership to foster resiliency for small businesses in California.

Many times, after a natural disaster, business owners are left without information on how to reopen and emerge from a natural disaster. This partnership will provide targeted education and programming to California small businesses. Small businesses will be able to tap into the network of USRC and SBA resources, such as lenders and business advisors, to make mitigation plans to tackle any unknown challenges.

The Chamber is excited to support this new partnership for the benefit of small businesses throughout the region. View photos from our press conference here and the media coverage here.