ECONOMIC RESILIENCE

Economic Disruptions Arising from Natural Disasters

The types of natural disasters that could occur in the region include

    • Flood events
    • Winter storm events
    • Fire events
    • High wind events
    • Earthquake events
    • Pandemic events

Of these types of disasters, flood events and winter storm events are the most common in the region.

The region has a county-level approach to economic resilience with respect to natural disasters. In each county in the region, the County department of economic development and the county industrial development agency have a relationship with the county office of emergency services that involves pre-planning for natural disasters and, once a natural disaster occurs, that provides for a coordinated response to that disaster.

The focus of the county offices of emergency services is planning for mitigating and responding to natural disasters, as they impact both publicly and privately owned assets; governmental, community, and business operations; and the general public. With respect to natural disasters, each county has both a hazard mitigation plan and a hazard response plan.

The hazard mitigation plan in one sense is a function of the FEMA and NYS Office of Emergency Management focus on publicly owned assets. Accordingly, the county hazard mitigation plans focus primarily on preventing or minimizing damage to publicly owned assets in the event of a natural disaster. Economic resilience per se (i.e., with respect to a natural disaster’s impact on private businesses) is not an element of the county hazard mitigation plans. However, damage to publicly owned assets not only can negatively impact governmental or community facility operations; it also can disrupt private sector (business operations). Accordingly, there is a role for county economic development organizations with respect to mitigation planning and assistance to businesses and communities with respect to helping them avoid or minimize the negative impacts of natural disasters on the business community.

Obviously, in 2020 the overriding natural disaster and ensuing economic dislocation is that associated with the coronavirus pandemic. Again, here the region is concerned with economic resiliency. The pandemic has negatively impacted both the public sector (as a result of reduced revenues and social isolation constraints to government operations) and the private sector (i.e., business downsizings/suspensions/closures and consequent layoffs). Economic resilience strategies thus take the forefront in this region as well as in regions across the entire nation.

Economic Disruptions Arising from Other Than Natural Disasters

Other types of economic disruptions can be just as damaging to local and regional economies as can disruptions arising from natural disasters. Economic disruptions typically involve plant closures or downsizings/layoffs or production hiatuses arising from various causes.

Examples of potential causes for these other types of economic disruptions include:

  • Persistent internal regional structural issues including:
    • Excessive local dependencies on single employers or industries
    • Non-local ownership of certain major employers
    • Inadequate transportation access/options in some communities
    • Inadequate broadband availability in some communities
    • Labor force issues, including an inadequately educated workforce
    • Barriers to entrepreneurship and small business expansion
    • Inadequate access to small business finance
  • Circumstantial issues, typically external but sometimes internal, including:
    • Economic downturns
    • Customer issues (domestic and international)
    • Technological obsolescence or competitiveness issues
    • Labor force issues, including labor stoppages
    • Supply chain issues or interruptions
    • Infrastructure service disruption
    • Water shortages
    • Chemical spills, etc.
    • Climate change

The region must address these types of business risks through both steady state (mitigation or avoidance or minimization) initiatives and response initiatives (once disruptions occur). The following two sub-sections address these two topics.

Steady State Initiatives – Planning for and Implementing Economic Resilience Initiatives

1. Role of businesses in steady state planning and implementation

A. Identification of primary business risks relating to or caused by natural disasters, for example:

• Energy supply disruptions
• Facility damage or accessibility issues
• Telecommunications or utility service disruptions
• Etc.

B. Identification of primary business risks relating to disruptions other than natural disasters, often the result of persistent economic challenges or deficiencies, for example:

• Plant closures, downsizings, or interruptions of production
• Reduction of purchasing from local vendors in the supply chain

C. Development of plans for avoid or minimize disruptions from natural disasters, for example:

• Backup energy supplies
• Strengthening potentially physically challenged elements of facilities
• Improving accessibility infrastructure / accessibility redundancy
• Telecommunications redundancy
• Improving utility infrastructure
• Etc.

D. Communication of risks and plans to communities, county emergency services offices, and economic development organizations

2. Role of communities in steady state planning and implementation

A. Identification of primary business risks relating to natural disasters. Determine which publicly owned assets, if damaged by natural disaster, could disrupt local business operations. Examples are culverts and bridges that are key element of accessibility to business facilities, etc.

B. Participation in county hazard mitigation planning process with respect to these publicly owned assets that, if damaged by natural disaster, could disrupt local business operations. Include mitigation projects relating to these assets in the county hazard mitigation plan so as to avoid disruption of local business operations. Implement these mitigation projects. Project examples could include improving and reinforcing stream channels to avoid flooding damage, GIS database of municipal infrastructure, database of facility utility shut offs, enhancing channel capacity, restoring channel stability, etc.

C. Continuation of safe development practices, including land use/zoning ordinances requiring the location of structures outside of floodplains, stormwater policies that effectively manage stormwater so as not to create potentially disrupting flooding, the preservation of natural lands that act as buffers from storms, flood storage buffers from storms, the protection of community built environments from the impacts of extreme weather, etc.

3. Role of economic development organizations in steady state planning and implementation

A. Creation of network(s) to facilitate active and regular communication between the relevant sectors to (a) collaborate, (b) collect and disseminate information about key elements (such as supply-chain relationships), and (c) ensure that the public, private, education, and nonprofit sectors are aware of each other’s roles and responsibilities with respect to existing and potential future challenges

• County emergency management offices
• County offices of economic development
• County industrial development agencies
• County workforce management office
• Local government officials (CEO, DPW, etc.) of affected communities
• Major employers and cornerstone institutions (e.g. hospitals, colleges, etc.)
• Southern Tier West

B. Creation of a business database

• Database should begin with largest employers
• Database should be GIS-based and served over the web by controlled access
• Data fields should include location, description of operations, description of any hazardous operations or materials, contact information, location of utility services, employee information

C. Identification of primary business risks relating to natural disasters. Recognize and collect business and
community mitigation plans and county hazard mitigation plans.