Climate disasters—combined with the lingering economic stress of the pandemic—present immediate challenges to the survival of small businesses and the outlook for long-term recovery and growth.

With the generous support of Wells FargoFoundation, LISC is developing our Small Business Resiliency Network of disaster planning coaches to ensure that businesses are prepared for disasters and have adaptation strategies in place.By rooting our approach at the intersection of economic and environmental recovery, our network will strengthen the resilience of our communities through the resilience of our small businesses.

As part of a 20-organization cohort in Alabama, New Jersey, New York, Louisiana, and Texas, =SPACE will provide one-on-one support, technical assistance, and trainings for small businesses to:

Understand how climate change impacts small businesses, including how to differentiate between short-term acute shocks and long-term chronic stressors
Assess barriers to preparedness and develop strategies to assess them
Identify climate-related business opportunities, including evolving technologies, shifting stakeholders, emerging disclosure requirements, and investment and funding trends
Our organization will provide one-on-one training in disaster preparedness, recovery and resiliency to those businesses interested in learning how their business can better prepare and respond more efficiently and quickly after a disaster to reopen operations. We also offer Zoom meetings in addition to our in-person technical assistance services.