The numbers make a strong case for urgency: 40% of businesses don't reopen after a disaster, and an additional 25% fail within the first year. For the nearly 1,000 businesses the Cumberland Valley Business Alliance serves across Chambersburg, Greencastle, and the surrounding region, that's not an abstract statistic — it's a real risk to real neighbors. The businesses that survive major disruptions almost always have one thing in common: they had a plan.

Here's a practical framework for building one before you need it.

Know What Risks Your Business Actually Faces

Most owners think emergency planning means fire drills and smoke detectors. That's the floor, not the ceiling. The U.S. Chamber of Commerce notes that a good plan must cover digital and financial risks — including cyberattacks, data loss, and supply-chain disruptions — alongside natural hazards, and should exist in both print and digital formats.

Start with a risk inventory specific to your operation. A Chambersburg restaurant near the town center faces different exposure than a logistics firm or a professional services practice. Work through each category: severe weather, utility outages, equipment failure, cyber incidents, and key-person risk. Ranking threats by likelihood and potential impact tells you where to focus your preparedness energy first.

Write a Plan — Not Just a Mental Checklist

A business continuity plan is a written document that spells out who does what, who contacts whom, and how decisions get made when you're not in the room. The mental version doesn't survive a real emergency.

Ready.gov (FEMA) recommends owners follow a six-step continuity process — from defining objectives to testing the plan — and stresses that training and exercises are essential so every employee knows their role when operations are disrupted. Your written plan should cover, at minimum:

• Evacuation procedures and a designated assembly point

• Who assumes decision-making authority if the owner is unreachable

• A prioritized list of critical business functions and what's needed to restore them

• Contact lists for employees, key vendors, and your insurance carrier

Set Up an Emergency Communication System

Don't assume your normal channels will hold. Email may be down, your office phones may be offline, and local cell towers can get overwhelmed during a regional event. Decide in advance how you'll reach employees, customers, and key vendors if standard communications fail.

A simple out-of-state contact — someone your team can call who isn't affected by the same local disruption — is one of the most underused preparedness tools. Draft templated messages for customers and suppliers before something goes wrong. When you're in the middle of a crisis, having a draft ready saves hours.

Protect Your Financial Records

This is the step most business owners skip — and a step the IRS specifically flags. It's worth taking seriously: protect vital financial records by keeping copies offsite or in the cloud, and document valuables with photos or video before a disaster strikes, making it easier to claim insurance and tax benefits.

Back up contracts, payroll records, tax filings, and insurance policies to a secure cloud service or offsite location, and test your backup process twice a year to confirm it's actually running.

When creating printed emergency materials — evacuation maps, procedure handouts, emergency contact sheets — PDF format keeps your formatting intact across devices and prints consistently every time. Adobe Acrobat is a file conversion tool that turns image files and scanned documents into shareable PDFs; you can get started now by dragging and dropping PNG or other image files directly into the browser-based tool, no software installation required.

Train Your Team Before You Need Them

A plan your team has never practiced is a plan that won't hold under pressure. Run a tabletop exercise at least once a year — walk through a realistic scenario and surface the gaps before a real event does.

SCORE cites FEMA data showing that 40 to 60% of small businesses that close due to a natural disaster never reopen, and provides free disaster prep checklists tailored to specific hazard types — tornado, wildfire, hurricane, flood — along with free mentoring for owners in regions like Chambersburg who want to build their preparedness.

Training doesn't need to be a production. A 30-minute walkthrough of where the shutoffs are, who calls 911, and where to meet if the building is inaccessible builds real muscle memory for your team.

Keep Emergency Supplies Accessible

Your business location should have at minimum: a stocked first aid kit, flashlights with fresh batteries, and basic food and water if employees might be on-site during or after a prolonged event. Keep a printed copy of emergency contacts and insurance information somewhere accessible without power or internet — not just on a shared drive.

Don't overlook the fundamentals: know where your utility shutoffs are and make sure they're labeled. In a fast-moving situation, that detail matters.

Review Your Plan Every Year — At Minimum

Staff turns over, you move locations, you add new systems. A plan built around last year's team may not reflect your current business at all. Build an annual review into your calendar — tie it to your insurance renewal or your year-end business review so it doesn't slip.

Update the plan whenever a major change occurs: a new location, a new hire in a critical role, a new vendor relationship, or a significant technology change.

In practice: The review is the step most owners skip. Blocking 90 minutes on the calendar now — before anything goes wrong — is far less costly than rebuilding from scratch during a crisis.

Resources for Cumberland Valley Business Owners

If you're not sure where to start, federal resources can help close the gap. The SBA confirms that eligible small business owners can apply for disaster recovery loans covering repair and replacement costs for real estate, equipment, inventory, and other business assets — and there is no cost to apply, with no obligation to accept if approved.

Cumberland Valley Business Alliance members also have access to trainings, programs, and peer connections across the full CVBA network. Emergency preparedness is one of those business fundamentals that's easier to tackle with help. If you've been putting it off, the time to build your plan is now — before the next disruption makes the decision for you.