Noah Dormady's Business Resilience Calculator Aids Pandemic-Hit Businesses

The Business Resilience Calculator (BRC) is designed to help businesses minimize losses during uncertain times. The calculator was developed through a partnership between Ohio State and the University of Southern California through the University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign Critical Infrastructure Resilience Institute (CIRI).

“Resilience is a buzzword nowadays and it means the ability to bounce back,” said Noah Dormady, associate professor of public policy at Ohio State’s John Glenn College of Public Affairs. “This software is designed to help businesses and other organizations like nonprofits bounce back in the most cost-effective way possible.”

Dormady and his research partner Adam Rose, director of the USC’s Center for Risk and Economic Analysis of Terrorism Events (CREATE) developed the tool using data they collected in the aftermath of Hurricane Harvey and Superstorm Sandy. Along with OSU doctoral student Blain Morin and OSU alum Alfredo Roa-henriquez of the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST), their team sought to understand the link between business responses to various stressors and the contributions those decisions made to their overall resilience. The team conducted two large-area surveys in the states of Texas, New York and New Jersey to assess the impacts of the storms on affected businesses.

Currently, a version of the calculator is being offered for free to help provide relief to businesses affected by COVID-19.