U.S., Japan Researchers Analyze Small Business Disaster Resilience
Hurricane Ian in 2022 caused at least 156 fatalities and $112.9 billion in damages in the U.S., including this industrial building that was destroyed in Florida. (Story image used under license from bilanol, stock.adobe.com.)
By Joan Slattery Wall
Glenn College Associate Professor Noah Dormady joins a research team studying resilience for minority- and women-owned small and mid-sized businesses in the U.S. and Japan.
Associate Professor Noah Dormady
“As someone who studies natural hazards and natural hazard economics, and as the associate editor of the Natural Hazards Review, I am intrigued by Japan as its people have many frequent natural hazard events such as earthquakes and tsunamis and yet bounce back with a resilience that is worthy of study,” Dormady said.
Results of the research are expected to improve equity and resilience capacity-building in regard to the disproportionate consequences of natural disasters on small and mid-sized businesses.
“Through our similar work studying business resilience outcomes from Hurricane Harvey and Superstorm Sandy, we found that there was broad heterogeneity in business impacts,” Dormady said.
Averting Losses When Disaster Strikes
Associate Professor Noah Dormady’s research has provided empirical assessment of economic resilience metrics that businesses can use to prioritize resilience expenditures to maintain continuity and stability.
The team’s prior work, funded by the U.S. Department of Homeland Security, led to the development of capabilities for quantifying business resilience to disruptions brought about by disasters. The new funding will enable the team to further evaluate resilience cost and effectiveness, develop greater predictive capabilities and focus more on efficient recovery. The team aims to be able to develop even more enhanced analytics that will help all businesses, including small and mid-sized businesses, more cost-effectively cope with and rebound from disasters.