SCORE helps QCA small businesses prepare for disaster
DAVENPORT, Iowa (KWQC) - September is National Preparedness Month and the Quad Cities area is familiar with disasters, from flooding to tornadoes, and other disasters. In an instant, everything small business owners have put into their business can be lost in one disaster, and while disasters are hard to avoid, there are ways to build resiliency before they strike.
Small businesses in the Quad Cities area can receive assistance preparing for worst-case scenarios, and recovering from them, through the SCORE program and their mentors with access to a network of knowledgeable and experienced agencies and personnel.
Owner, Mike Osborn, of the Davenport restaurant, The Half Nelson, has firsthand experience with disasters and the SCORE program. The opening day of his restaurant was halted by the sudden breach of the HESCO barrier wall lined along the Mississippi River, put in place to hold back rising waters in the flood of 2019. His SCORE mentor was able to help Osborn secure a low-interest loan to restore and re-open his business. The following spring, he was faced with another crisis.
“Covid hits,” said Osborn, “and that’s when I think we really derived the most benefit from from our partnership with SCORE.” He added, “some webinars, some brainstorming with other restaurateurs to kind of help us weather the storm and stay afloat during Covid.”
SCORE’s chapter leader for the Quad Cities area, which covers 26 counties in Iowa and Illinois, is Tom Trone.
“We just help people think about all the eventualities,” said Trone, “and all the things that they have to think about and do and be prepared to take action on before it happens not knowing what that thing is going to be.” He added, “something comes up, call us and you can almost be guaranteed that somebody, among the 10,000 national SCORE group, knows the answer to whatever it is.”
The services SCORE provides are free of charge, as they are funded by Congress through the federal Small Business Administration. To learn more, and reach out to a mentor, click here.
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