Washington Business Spring 2017 | Washington Business | Page 43

business backgrounder | economy
Small Business Emergency Preparedness
In the event of a natural or man-made disaster, emergency
preparedness and quick thinking are the keys to saving
your small business.
Ryan Chambers
Tristan Allen, private sector program manager for the Washington Emergency
Management Division, is encouraging owners of small- and medium-
sized businesses to take the first step in emergency preparedness for their
businesses: Take a 16-question survey so his team can get an understanding
of the current preparedness climate in Washington’s smaller employers.
March 15, 2011 is the day the world stood still for Burien small-business owner
Debra George, former owner of The Mark Restaurant & Bar, located in the heart
of Olde Burien.
It was a seemingly normal Tuesday afternoon. George and her employees were
prepping the restaurant for a busy St. Patrick’s Day on Thursday. They were
installing a new coffee maker near the kitchen when a puff of smoke came from
the electrical panel.
“They just plugged it in,” said George. “It surged right into our main electrical
panel and caught fire.”
George quickly herded employees and patrons out of the facility, fire alarms
ringing in the background, then rushed back into the restaurant to look at the
extent of the damage. “Your first thought is to get everyone out and everyone safe.
Your second thought is to save the business. You immediately just start to panic
about how you’re going to save your investment,” she said.
“Forty percent of businesses that go
under as a result of a disaster do not
reopen their doors. That’s because of
tight budgets and businesses don’t
have the personnel to throw at this
problem.”
— Tristan Allen, program manager, Washington
Emergency Management Division
at a glance
The Washington Business Preparedness
Survey is a business owner’s first step to
managing the planning and preparation if an
emergency occurs.
The Washington Business Preparedness Survey
is tailored to be short and to the point. The
average survey time is five minutes.
For every dollar spent on prevention, five
dollars are saved during an “emergency-type”
situation.
The goal is to raise the level of preparedness
in Washington’s small-to-medium-sized
businesses.
Completed surveys will allow the Emergency
Management crew to look for trends among
the state. They will then be able to address
those specific trends with local government
resources and, ultimately, make businesses
better prepared.
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