Hampton Inn and Suites Newark-Harrison-Riverwalk in Harrison, N.J., uses its proximity to the Passaic River as a pitch to lure business executives and tourists who want to visit Newark or New York City.
Since Oct. 29, 2012, though, the hotel has lost a lot of customers and money because it is one block away from the Passaic River. On that day, Hurricane Sandy slammed New Jersey and New York City so badly that the river overflowed and destroyed a large part of the 165-room hotel’s first floor. The hotel did not reopen until March 15. The Hampton Inn is not atypical. In fact, many businesses continue to struggle as the six month anniversary of Hurricane Sandy approaches. The small business community was particularly devastated. Hurricane Sandy has negatively affected 60,000 to 100,000 small businesses and up to 30 percent of those companies will fail because of the storm, according to the U.S. Chamber Foundation, Forbes magazine reported.
New Jersey and New York City’s small business communities were the hardest hit.
“Severe damage to small businesses occurred in New Jersey, with nearly 19,000 businesses sustaining damage of $250,000 or more, and total business losses estimated at $8.3 billion,” according to a National Hurricane Center report that also concluded that Sandy was the “second-costliest cyclone to hit the United States since 1900.” Altogether, Sandy killed at least 159 Americans (72 directly; 87 indirectly via car crashes, falls and other storm-related causes), damaged at least 650,000 American homes, left about 8.5 million people without electricity, and caused about $50 billion in property damage.
The National Hurricane Center report didn’t estimate Hurricane Sandy’s damage to New York City’s small business community, but it said the city sustained $19 billion in damage. New York City’s officials are so concerned about the storm’s damage to the small business community that as the six-month anniversary approached the City Council and Mayor Michael Bloomberg were still working on measures to help small businesses shuttered by Sandy reopen.
In March, Bloomberg issued an executive order that waived fees that small businesses ordinarily pay the city for reconstruction and repair permits if the companies were in areas most affected by Sandy, including Broad Channel, Forest Hills, Howard Beach, Ozone Park, and the Rockaways. The city is also considering refunding small businesses that already paid for reconstruction and repair permits and is sponsoring insurance seminars for small businesses affected by Sandy.
City Councilman Eric Ulrich of Ozone Park told the Times Ledger newspaper that governmental action was needed to help his community’s small businesses.
“Hurricane Sandy had a devastating physical and financial impact on the small businesses in my district,” he said. “In fact, many have not fully recovered and others are struggling to keep their doors open.”
In addition, three banks -- Barclays, Citibank and UBS -- donated a total of $1 million to New York City so grants can be given to small businesses that are trying to recover from Sandy, according to The Huffington Post.
The Hartford, an insurance company, surveyed 451 small business owners in Connecticut, New Jersey and New York in an effort to assess the magnitude of Sandy’s damage to small businesses. It reported that:
* Fifty-two percent of the surveyed businesses lost sales or revenues.
* About 75 percent of the businesses had to close for at least one day. Approximately 44 percent of the businesses that closed were shuttered for at least one week. Seventy-one percent of the businesses lost power for at least one day.
* Sixty-five percent of the owners surveyed said they had customer issues because of Sandy, while 47 percent had employee issues and 44 percent had supplier issues.
* The owners’ top recommendation for small business owners concerned about future disasters was to review their property insurance coverage (23 percent). In addition, 21 percent of respondents recommended investing in a generator, 15 percent advised backing up important records, and 14 percent said companies should formulate a business contingency plan.
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