Oakland Disaster Resilience Public-Private Partnerships Workshop

Did you know that according to the Institute for Business and Home Safety, an estimated 25 percent of businesses do not reopen following a major disaster?

The recent Napa earthquake also demonstrated that businesses are often the most vulnerable to damages when disasters strike. Some reports state Napa businesses experienced over $1 billion in damages. Don’t let this happen to Oakland businesses! Are you ready?

The City of Oakland, the Oakland Fire Department's Emergency Management Services Division, the Oakland Office of Economic Development and other local leaders in Disaster Management invite you to attend a workshop to learn about resources that can help business owners with advance disaster planning, ways to lessen the financial impact of disasters, and strategies to re-open your business quickly in the event of a disaster. Our goal is to offer educational resources to businesses while building and strengthening private and public business partnerships to strengthen Oakland’s economic and community resilience.

We know that small business owners invest a tremendous amount of time, money and resources to make their ventures successful. Yet, many owners fail to properly plan and prepare for disaster situations. Learn about ways to protect your business by identifying the risks associated with natural and man-made disasters, and by creating a plan for action should a disaster strike.

At the workshop, we will discuss critical information to help your business such as:

- Do you have the right insurance?

- Do you have the tools necessary for disaster recovery planning?

- Do you have an action plan to deal with broken or damaged utilities?

- Do you know what resources are available in Oakland?

In partnership with the California Resiliency Alliance (CRA), an Oakland-based nonprofit, the City is organizing this workshop to help you answer these questions, discuss our plans to offer additional educational resources and support to Oakland’s businesses. We will also discuss our interest in developing a strong public-private sector advisory committee to help Oakland’s business community – small and large.

We hope you will join us. Please share with pass this email or the attached flyer to other business leaders and your business association that you feel would benefit from this important information.