by Don Delgado, Vice President, Agency Administration
Hurricane Harvey has left a path of devastation and destruction in Texas and beyond. Our hearts go out to everyone in that area of the country whose lives have been impacted. Harvey will no doubt have been catastrophic to many businesses. According to FEMA, 40% of businesses do not reopen after a disaster and another 25% fail within one year.
None of us ever expects to be the victim of a natural disaster, but no area of our country is immune to one. Regardless of ALTA’s Best Practices related to Disaster Recovery and Business Continuity plans, you should have such plans in place to increase your chances of recovering from a natural disaster and keeping your business alive in the event that one hits your area.
It may seem like a daunting task to develop and implement formal Disaster Recovery and Business Continuity Plans. You do not need to start from scratch. There are a number of resources available to help. Following is a list of resources that you can utilize to make the task much less intimidating:
- Ready.gov (https://www.ready.gov/business/implementation/continuity) — Provides the basic steps to Business Continuity Planning and IT Disaster Recovery Planning
(https://www.ready.gov/business/implementation/IT)
- PrepareMyBusiness.org (http://www.preparemybusiness.org/planning) – Includes downloadable material including a kit
(http://www.agilityrecovery.com/assets/SBA/drkitsba.pdf)
- DisasterSafety.org (https://disastersafety.org/ibhs-business-protection/ofb-ez-business-continuity/) – Includes a downloadable Tool Kit
(http://disastersafety.org/wp-content/uploads/OFB-EZ_Toolkit_IBHS.pdf) and a Mobile App
No matter the size or scope of your business, if you want to stay in business in the event that a natural disaster hits your area, you must take the threat seriously and develop Disaster Recovery and Business Continuity Plans. We strongly encourage those who have not yet developed such plans to take advantage of the resources and tools listed above.
About the Author
Don Delgado is Vice President-Agency Administration for Conestoga Title Insurance Co., a regional title insurance underwriter based on Lancaster, PA. Don graduated from Shippensburg University in 1991 with a BSBA degree and a concentration in real estate. He joined Conestoga in 1993 after working in real estate sales for two years. His duties at Conestoga include oversight and support of the Company’s agency network, oversight of the agency audit program, and assisting with technology development. Don has been a Member of ALTA’s internal Auditing Committee since 2015.
Reprinted with permission of Conestoga Title Insurance Co. and the author. Originally published in the WagonLode (Conestoga’s newsletter), Vol. V, No. 3, Fall 2017, pg. 3
