While government officials are often very focused on citizen disaster preparedness and recovery, businesses are left to fend for themselves. However, the Macomb County Chamber in Michigan has acknowledged the important role that local companies play in community disaster response. The county's leaders are promoting business continuity planning alongside their efforts to help residents be ready for a crisis.

In order to achieve overall community preparedness, Macomb County is hosting a "Super Prepared Conference," focused on how businesses and the community at large can help each other in times of need.

"With the recent events happening everywhere – we just had a tornado in Rochester Hills and we had flooding and numerous power outages before that – I would think people are starting to realize the reality," Dave McIntyre, emergency program manager for the county, told The Macomb Daily.

Part of the conference will include a demonstration of the county's specialized first responders, which are specifically trained for crisis management and emergency response. Furthermore, any and all questions regarding emergency preparedness and small business disaster recovery will be answered. McIntyre noted that the event is meant to encourage discussion, not just provide information.

For businesses, understanding how their continuity of operations plan can affect the surrounding community is important. A company that is able to return to operations quickly provides support that other businesses and residents in the area benefit from by encouraging a stronger economic bounce back and promoting further preparedness efforts overall.

Firms looking to optimize their efforts should considering hiring business continuity consultants to ensure their strategies are optimized for unique company needs and aligned with the surrounding community to maximize their positive impact on continuity for their location.