Free Earthquake Damage Prevention Workshops Offered to Small Businesses by FEMA and the Federal Alliance for Safe Homes (FLASH)®

TALLAHASEE, Fla., Sept. 29, 2014 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- The nonprofit Federal Alliance for Safe Homes (FLASH) and the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) are co-presenting a series of free workshops for businesses through the Earthquake 2014 Business Preparedness Summit initiative. The summits feature the FEMA QuakeSmart™ Community Resilience Program for Businesses and Organizations and provide earthquake assessments, engineering insights, and retrofit information designed to save lives, protect property, and prevent post-earthquake business interruption. Participants will learn earthquake damage prevention techniques, complete QuakeSmart self-assessments, and create plans to strengthen their businesses in the face of earthquake risk.

The next workshop will take place on Thursday, October 30 in San Mateo, California, and the Quake Cottage™ earthquake simulator and interactive QuakeSmart preparedness workstations will be on-site. Interested businesses should visit www.earthquake2014summit.com to register for the workshop as seats will be available on a first-come, first-served basis.

"The recent Napa earthquake demonstrated how injuries and property losses can be minimized through strong building codes and practices, information empowerment, and advanced planning," said FLASH President and CEO Leslie Chapman-Henderson. "According to FEMA, 75 percent of businesses without continuity planning will fail within three years after a disaster, and small businesses employ the majority of U.S. workers. As a result, advance planning is essential for community economic resiliency in the face of earthquake risk."

FLASH partners with FEMA to promote the QuakeSmart Community Resilience Program for Businesses and Organizations in 38 states and U.S. Territories with moderate to high earthquake risk. The program provides a process for businesses to identify risk, develop a plan, and take action to protect employees and mitigate earthquake losses. The step-by-step instructions in the program help identify potential weaknesses in workspaces, utility systems, and structures while providing detailed instructions on mitigation tactics as well as cost estimates to develop a retrofitting budget. After performing the retrofits, businesses can apply for recognition through the program.

The first summit took place on September 18 in Riverside, California and drew more than 60 business owners and managers, emergency officials, engineers, local government officials, and nonprofit representatives. According to Chapman-Henderson, "We are proud to join FEMA in this effort and are grateful for the generous support from our academic, business and community leaders who recognize its importance, especially Bay Area Earthquake Alliance, Building Owners and Managers Association (BOMA) of San Francisco, Earthquake Country Alliance (ECA), ETC Building & Design, Disaster Resistant Business (DRB) Toolkit, Fault Line Training, IFMA Silicon Valley Chapter, Quake Cottage LLC, QuakeSmart, Safe-T-Proof, and Simpson Strong-Tie Co." Additional summits are already planned for St. Louis, Missouri and Yuma, Arizona.

Visit www.earthquake2014summit.com, email [email protected], or call (877) 221-SAFE (7233) for more information.

About FLASH
Federal Alliance for Safe Homes (FLASH)®, a 501(c)3 nonprofit organization, is the country's leading consumer advocate for strengthening homes and safeguarding families from natural and manmade disasters. FLASH collaborates with more than 120 innovative and diverse partners that share its vision of making America a more disaster‐resilient nation including: BASF, Federal Emergency Management Agency, Florida Division of Emergency Management, The Home Depot®, International Code Council, Kohler® Generators, National Weather Service, Portland Cement Association, RenaissanceRe, Simpson Strong-Tie®, State Farm™, USAA® and WeatherPredict Consulting Inc. In 2008, FLASH opened the interactive weather experience StormStruck: A Tale of Two Homes® in Lake Buena Vista, FL. Learn more about FLASH and gain access to its free consumer resources by visiting www.flash.org or calling (877) 221- SAFE (7233). Also, get timely safety tips to ensure that you and your family are protected from natural and manmade disasters by subscribing to the FLASH blog – Protect Your Home in a FLASH.

SOURCE Federal Alliance for Safe Homes (FLASH)