Hurricane season starts next month. While Floridians understandably find comfort in the fact that there’s generally plenty of advance notice with hurricanes, these storms still pack plenty of surprises.
That’s what the Treasure Coast experienced last fall when 11 confirmed tornadoes struck during Hurricane Milton.
Moving from the Atlanta metro area, my family and I had called Martin County home for fewer than three weeks when one such tornado hit our community of Mariner Village. Although our car suffered significant damage, many of my neighbors’ properties fared far worse.
For several local businesses, recovery proved even more complicated. At the Business Development Board, our team worked tirelessly to help numerous small companies access the resources they needed to reopen for their customers and the community. The breadth of damage from the tornadoes and the scope of affected parties required skillful navigation of the resource-recovery system.
We resolved then that next time, we’d help equip businesses well before an approaching storm.
“Next time” is now, when no storms are on the immediate horizon.
Sponsored by C3 Complete, from 8 a.m. to noon on May 29 at Indian River State College’s Chastain Campus in Stuart, we’re hosting a free workshop entitled, “Business Resilience: Beyond the Basics.” Experts will provide advice on:
- Applying for no- or low-interest economic-injury loans
- Creating supply-chain contingency plans when links between suppliers, vendors, and customers break down
- Developing current business and operations plans is an essential prerequisite that businesses must have to qualify for disaster-relief funding.
- Business continuity planning, what that means and how to get started.
- Data and technology: learn what to protect and how.
Storm shutters and sandbags can help save your physical property, but saving your actual business takes a lot more.
Business Awards are arriving early this year
The beloved annual Martin County Business Awards are moving up in the calendar—now taking place from 11:30 a.m. to 1 p.m. Oct. 6 at Hutchinson Shores Resort & Spa. The nomination period opens May 12 through June 23. We’ve also added a new category—Workforce Development Award.
Our Pulse meetings with local business owners reveal a common pain point: Executives across industries share the same challenge—finding, training and retaining talent. Fortunately, numerous professionals in the private, public, and nonprofit sectors are engaged in various creative initiatives to upskill the workforce. Together, they’re planting the seeds that will strengthen the local economy over the long run, so we’re anticipating some exciting nominations for this award.
Other award categories include Business Excellence, Company to Watch, Newcomer of the Year, Headquarters of the Year, Manufacturer of the Year, Entrepreneur of the Year, and Youth Entrepreneur of the Year.
Words of encouragement
At a recent Martin County Commission meeting in which we submitted our annual report, local business leaders spoke favorably about our renewed direction and enhanced services. We’re grateful to each of them. We especially appreciated the comments by Debbie Pease of Daher Aerospace, who spoke about the company’s current $30 million investment in additional aircraft manufacturing capabilities at the Stuart location.
“The knowledge, network of key contacts, and business advocacy of the BDB has helped smooth our entry into the community, and it’s played a direct role in our expanded investment,” she said. “Our experience is a testament to the return on investment that the BDB brings to Martin County.”
Thank you, Debbie. We’re happy to have helped and look forward to ensuring other great Martin County companies can thrive, hire and continue growing the local tax base—and alleviating the burden on homeowners.
