COVID-19

A Post First-Wave Planner for Small Businesses

4. Emergency Management

  • Monitor state and national health information for any updates about the current situation or new pandemic waves.
  • Contact public health officials and applicable regulatory agencies to get updates on when and how a business can be reopened. State, county and local officials may opt for a tiered approach to re-establishing commerce.
  • Balance recovery actions with preparedness planning for a new disruption to your business operations. This will create resiliency in your company long term.
  • Recognize that you may have to implement new industry-specific safety practices, including maintaining proper social distancing, testing employees that display symptoms, offering appropriate personal protection equipment, etc.
  • Maintain awareness of evolving requirements for personal protection equipment (PPE) that will be required for your particular industry. Research the process for sourcing these materials in advance of opening.
  • Develop a crisis plan as time allows, if you don’t have one already. To help you develop one, visit our crisis planner toolkit, which includes handy checklists near the end for suspending and resuming operations as well as in-depth tools for assessing and responding to various scenarios.
  • Identify any available direct and indirect government recovery support.
  • Check documentation requirements for insurance and federal and state aid so you can keep appropriate records for any claims or formal requests related to the pandemic.
  • Keep accurate records of crisis-related losses or costs.
  • Implement your business recovery plan and be prepared for the possibility of a subsequent wave.
  • Monitor your recovery continuously and take proactive actions to protect your operations and ensure resiliency in the post-crisis phase. Be sure that you document your activities so that procedures and activities can be used in the future.