If a storm came through, they'd fire up their 7,500-watt generator and restore power to the company's computers, recalled Shari McConahay, vice president in the family-run Dania Beach costume business. "Our big hurricane plan was the generator," she admitted.

Yet, while power was lost, so, too, were the phones and the company's DSL Internet connection. With no access to the Internet, the company couldn't process orders for its core business -- Halloween costumes. Its Web host overnighted printouts of the 1,250 orders placed the weekend before Wilma made landfall. But with Fort Lauderdale-Hollywood International Airport damaged, the orders couldn't be delivered. Even if the company had received and processed the orders, outbound shipments were down.

Besides, some employees were incommunicado for days.

The best-laid plans …

Extreme Halloween, like many businesses, realized after Hurricane Wilma that last year's best-laid plans aren't good enough anymore. Even less powerful hurricanes can cripple business.

Among businesses damaged in a storm, 43 percent will close for good -- and that figure rises to 60 percent after one year, says the Association for Small Business Development Centers.

Companies here are hoping that by heeding lessons from recent storms and preparing more extensively this year, they can avoid becoming one of the statistics.

Hurricane preparation must include elements meant to ensure business continuity, ranging from document and record storage to data backup, communications enhancement and personnel safety, according to Ted Kramer of the Small Business Development Center at Florida Atlantic University.

"It's not just disaster prevention. It's safeguarding your records and business," Kramer said. "If you can't rebuild your client files, your accounts receivable or vendor contacts, you're in serious trouble."

Recovery plans in place

Extreme Halloween's documents survived the 2005 season fairly well. And the inability to fill orders ultimately resulted in a mere 12 percent drop in business, mostly because Wilma hit just a week before Halloween, McConahay said.

Yet she and her father, company President Harold Maxwell, crafted a new plan for the 2006 season and beyond. Both bought generators for their homes; they're buying another propane unit to power lights and computers in the office and warehouse. The business will install satellite Internet service to avoid reliance on DSL or other Internet connections.

The company is negotiating with STS Telecom, a voice-over-Internet protocol (VoIP) phone service provider. This way, McConahay can plug her VoIP phone or laptop into any Internet connection and make calls and get messages. At the least, she can record a customer alert on voice mail.

Both she and Maxwell have purchased Verizon Wireless broadband cards for their laptop computers. Using the wireless cards, they can download and print orders using several portable printers that can be plugged into their generators or even power ports on their cars, she said.

"I can drive around, look for a strong signal and hit `print, print, print,'" she said.

To keep employees close, McConahay contacted a nearby hotel, which had a generator truck powering it after Wilma. All 18 employees and families will have accommodations if they choose.

"I don't know if you can ever really be prepared. It's hard to think of everything," she said.

Preparing the team

Last year, being powerless after Wilma affected more than the 35 on-site employees at Sandow Media Corp. It left more than a dozen in places like New York, Colorado and across the country short on support and supplies. This season, the company is hoping to prepare in advance.

Sandow's offices on the Florida Atlantic University campus are equipped with hurricane-resistant glass. The Boca Raton custom and magazine publisher has a pair of 15,000-watt generators to power most of its 40 computer stations, said Scott R. Yablon, chief operating officer.

Yet the plan this year is to prepare the local employees and those across the country for any contingency, he said. Most of the sales and executive staff have been given BlackBerry handheld phones and e-mail devices; while phone service was spotty following Wilma, e-mail was more reliable, he said. Tech support is on call to back up data, break down PCs and set them up at any of several executives' homes depending on who has Internet service after a storm.

The company is considering more generators to provide additional power and cooling. Employees are encouraged to carpool to conserve gasoline. And the company has contacted its electronic payroll provider to ensure employees will get paid regardless of the situation.

Executives there don't "go crazy" worrying about what ifs, Yablon said. "Employees look to management, and if management is overly concerned, they'll see that."

The plans don't change whether a threat is from a tropical storm or a major hurricane. "We assume the worst," he said. "We take them much more seriously than we did a year ago."

Expanding the plan

Internet Advertising Group in Tamarac had a hurricane readiness plan before Wilma. Now, it's been improved.

As Wilma approached, the 40 employees left the building in stages. Those who remained rerouted the Internet ad firm's Web traffic from South Florida servers to servers throughout the country, said Michael Weinsoff, president. Employees then shut down operations, covered computers in plastic and locked up the office.

After Wilma, half the employees showed up as planned. With limited power, most employees worked from other locations, including the conference room of the company's accounting firm.

The company had standing reservations at an Orlando-area hotel for its employees; half went, and half of those took their families. The company paid to board employees' pets, and provided them a per-diem. They visited a theme park as a group that Saturday, he said.

When the company moves this summer to a new Coral Springs location, the offices will be further fortified. Weinsoff selected the location after driving around post-Wilma, looking for buildings with windows still in place. The building is across the street from a BellSouth network operations center, lowering the chances Internet service will be lost, he said. It has impact-resistant glass and a generator for lights, ventilation and the elevator. Still, Weinsoff will spend $40,000 to install his own 30,000-watt generator out back.

"Not having the generator was the missing element," he said. "As long as you can generate power, you can run a business."

Six department heads will be provided satellite phones, with VoIP serviceforwarded to them. The new office will have cots, food and water, for employees who need a place to stay. It will have a 20-gallon gas tank with a hand pump, in case employees need fuel.

The company's preparedness plan was distributed and reviewed by each department last month.

"It's a step-by-step plan, so while people might not be thinking clearly, they'll know what their responsibilities are," Weinsoff said. "I'm comfortable that the systems will keep running and the company will keep functioning."

About STS Telecom

Established in 1994 as a long distance provider servicing the Florida community, STS Telecom is a nationwide VoIP service provider. Through relationships with Cisco Systems and Level 3, and capitalizing on cutting edge industry leading hosted IP solutions, STS Telecom provides a full suite of software based communications products and services including voice over IP applications, dependable discounted local phone service, long distance service, as well as Telephony hardware.

STS Telecom is not affiliated with BellSouth® or any other telephone company. STS Telecom serves Broward, Miami-Dade, and Palm Beach Counties. For additional information about STS Telecom, visit http://www.ststelecom.com.

Keith Kramer
kkramer@ststelecom.com

Steve Amarant
samarant@ststelecom.com