The U.S. Small Business Administration and the U.S. Chamber of Commerce will pool their resources to respond more effectively to major disasters, paving the way for faster recovery in affected communities, the groups said. The SBA”™s alliance with the chamber”™s Business Civic Leadership Center (BCLC) is part of a continuing effort to broaden the agency”™s response capacity in catastrophic disasters.
“This collaboration will establish a larger corps of potential responders, made up of business leaders, the SBA and its resource partners, ready on short notice to help disaster victims rebuild their lives,” SBA Administrator Steve Preston said.
The SBA will share situation analyses with BCLC and local chambers during pre-disaster and recovery periods, and share needs and capability assessments in the event of a catastrophic disaster. The SBA will work with BCLC to obtain volunteers who can support the agency”™s disaster assistance process. Further, the SBA will work with BCLC on research studies on post-disaster economic recovery.
BCLC will contribute to the alliance by providing timely information and on-site updates to the SBA, and helping bolster SBA”™s disaster-assistance capabilities through its members and networks. In addition, BCLC will work with SBA”™s resource partners, providing recovery assistance information to the local business community and details on how to prepare for disaster before it strikes.
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