# 5657
In a bit of a follow up to yesterday’s blog OECD Report: Future Global Shocks and one from last week called Estimating The Economic Impact Of A San Andreas Quake we’ve a report out of New Zealand (h/t Sally Furniss, Managing Editor of FluTrackers) on the nationwide economic impact of the three recent Christchurch earthquakes.
The article, by Marta Steeman of BusinessDay.co.nz, describes how 2/3rds of all businesses in New Zealand have been economically impacted by these quakes – even those well beyond the damaged areas.
Quakes affect two-thirds of NZ businesses
MARTA STEEMANLast updated 11:22 28/06/2011
The September and February earthquakes have affected nearly two-thirds of New Zealand businesses, according to a 2011 Grant Thornton international survey.
The survey indicated 18 per cent of businesses had suffered long-term impacts, 26 per cent medium-term impacts and 20 per cent a short-term hit.
Businesses in Christchurch, at the center of the quake damage, are the most severely affected with 18% of business establishments destroyed. Half of businesses cited a fall in demand for their goods and services as being the most significant impact.
Another concern - as we saw in New Orleans after Hurricane Katrina – is that many skilled workers have left the Christchurch area since the quakes, further hindering the recovery.
But the repercussions have been felt across New Zealand.
While not in the category of a `future global shock’, the Christchurch quakes demonstrate how a local disaster can economically impact a much larger area.
Just as individuals and families need to be prepared for the immediate impact of a disaster, businesses need to have a robust and practical disaster plan that will keep them functioning during, or shortly after, a crisis.
While fortune 500 companies spend big bucks on disaster preparedness and recovery, Small businesses – those with fewer than 20 employees – make up nearly 90% of the companies (that have employees) in the United States.
In 2004 they numbered over 5.2 million firms, which employed nearly 25 million people.In addition, there are nearly 22 million non-employer firms (as of 2007) – essentially self-employed individuals.
And these are the business enterprises that are the least likely to be prepared for a local, or global, disaster.
Ready.gov, the Small Business Administration, and the American Red Cross are just a few of the agencies working to help small businesses prepare to survive the next disaster.
If you value your job, or your business, you owe it to yourself, and your employees to visit:
And
And to avail yourself of the free 123 point assessment survey at the American Red Cross’s Ready Rating Program.
And of course, National Preparedness Month isn’t just for agencies, families, and individuals.
It is for businesses as well.
Like death and taxes, disasters are inevitable.
We may not always be able to prevent them, but we can be better prepared to deal with them when they happen.
And that can make all the difference whether your business ultimately survives or fails.
