By JONATHON HOWARD
SOUTHERN Downs business owners are being urged to attend a roundtable forum tomorrow, Friday 10 May, to help them better prepare and bounce back from floods events.
The forum will take place at Cafe Jacqui’s, 8 Albion St, from 7am.
The forum was announced after statistics revealed that 50 per cent of small and medium-size businesses have no disaster preparedness plan.
Volunteering Qld CEO, Perry Hembury, said communities respond more positively and bounce back more quickly from disasters if their local businesses re-open and start operating as soon as possible after a disaster.
“Resilience only happens when individuals and businesses are prepared for disasters and can access resources and support so they can get back to work quickly,” Mr Hembury said
Southern Downs Regional Council has thrown its support behind the initiative and the roundtable will feature a presentation on risks specific to the Warwick area from council’s Director of Engineering Services, Peter See.
Mayor Peter Blundell said having been impacted by natural disasters on multiple occasions in the past few years, businesses in the Southern Downs had learned through experience and developed their own disaster preparedness strategies and initiatives.
“Participating in a business roundtable will enable businesses to unite and share their experiences, local knowledge, strategies and initiatives that they have developed to be better prepared for disasters and emergencies,” Cr Blundell said.
“Good business continuity plans will help to keep a business up and running through interruptions of any kind: power failures, IT system crashes, supply chain problems and more, including natural disasters.”
To find our more phone the Southern Downs Regional Council on 4661 0300.
