GEN is collaborating with FedEx during Global Entrepreneurship Week to spotlight founders making a difference and initiatives available to support them. This feature, originally published on FedEx Cares shares information about the Small Business Readiness for Resiliency Program.
WASHINGTON, D.C. — The U.S. Chamber of Commerce Foundation, along with founding sponsor FedEx, announced the launch of the Small Business Readiness for Resiliency Program (R4R), to provide financial assistance to small business owners impacted by a natural disaster. R4R will distribute approximately 400 grants to eligible small businesses over the next four years.
“Small businesses employ nearly 50% of the U.S. workforce and are core to our economic stability as a nation,” said Rob Glenn, vice president of global resilience at the U.S. Chamber of Commerce Foundation. “We’re proud to work with FedEx to help small business owners build greater resiliency that helps them withstand the next disaster.”
While small businesses serve as the backbone of local economies, they are more vulnerable and more likely to fail following a disaster than larger enterprises.
It is estimated that more than 30% of employers in the U.S. are based in coastal counties, areas that are most vulnerable to hurricanes. Following Hurricane Harvey in 2017, nearly 1.5 million employers and solopreneurs were impacted.
As natural disasters increase in frequency and intensity, taking proactive measures to develop disaster preparedness and recovery solutions can be the difference between staying open or closing forever regardless of the type of hazard – flooding, hurricane, wildfire, tornadoes, and other perils.
"FedEx is proud to continue its long history of supporting small business resiliency and recovery. This multi-year commitment with the U.S. Chamber of Commerce Foundation allows us to contribute directly to small businesses that actively prepare for natural disasters," said Jenny Robertson, senior vice president of integrated marketing and communications at FedEx.
The U.S. Chamber Foundation will maintain a database of small businesses across the country where it will pull from when a disaster strikes to distribute funds. To join the database, a business must complete a preparedness checklist, (also available in Spanish). From assessing business vulnerability to developing an emergency action plan, this checklist helps ensure a business is taking the right steps to be resilient should an emergency occur.
In 2024 alone, 902 new businesses across 22 states took steps to prepare for disasters by completing our checklist, with most registrants coming from Florida, California, and North Carolina. Read more about how this program is making a tremendous impact on small businesses around the United States in the Readiness for Resiliency 2024 Impact Report.
For more information on eligibility and process, please visit the website here or contact resilience@uschamber.com. If your company is interested in supporting this program by contributing additional grant funds, please contact Rebecca Mousseau at rmousseau@uschamber.com.