IEDC’s Heartfelt Condolences to Those Impacted by Tornadoes in Texas and Oklahoma

The International Economic Development Council (IEDC) board and staff express our heartfelt sympathies to the victims, families and friends suffering from the recent tornadoes throughout the Midwest, particularly to the towns of Moore, Oklahoma and Granbury, Texas. We hope for a speedy recovery of those impacted by these destructive storms. Our association is committed to assisting local communities and their businesses with resources and knowledge on how to build back the economy in a stronger and more resilient way after a major catastrophe. To that end, we want to highlight a few important resources. A webinar recording on building organizational capacity in rural areas has recently been added to RestoreYourEconomy.org, which features economic recovery efforts in communities impacted by Hurricane Katrina, BP Oil Spill and an EF-3 tornado. A recording of the prioritizing economic recovery after a disaster webinar features efforts after the Joplin tornado and Jefferson Parish’s recovery from Katrina. Visit the Webinar page of RestoreYourEconomy.org to watch webinar recordings on other topics at no cost. For impacted businesses, the U.S. Chamber of Commerce’s Business Civic Leadership Center (BCLC) offers immediate help through its National Disaster Help Desk for Businesses (1-888-MY-BIZ-HELP). This help desk is for small businesses and local chambers of commerce to learn about recovery resources and to provide assistance in their recovery process. We also want to remind individuals that RestoreYourEconomy.org provides practical advice and resources for economic development professionals on critical activities to engage in before and after a disaster to assist in economic recovery. Please visit these pages to learn how to encourage businesses to engage in disaster preparedness, how to establish a business recovery center and/or a small business recovery fund, as well as a host of other resources. There are also case studies on how communities have worked on critical activities for restoring the local economy after a major disaster. Visit the FEMA webpage that describes steps before, during and after a tornado. Again, our thoughts go out to those who lost family members and friends and to those involved in the recovery work that lies ahead.