The social and economic impacts of COVID-19 have battered small- and medium-sized enterprises, putting millions of jobs in the U.S. at risk. And a barrage of natural disasters has not done the already struggling business sector any favors.
To understand the strategies and experiences of businesses managing this double threat, CPO’s Regional Integrated Sciences and Assessments Program (RISA), in collaboration with National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST)’s Applied Economics Office, have recently published a briefing document and a research instrument with initial findings from wave two of a three-part research project surveying small- and medium-sized enterprises.
Early outcomes from the second wave suggest that respondents have learned and adapted during the course of the pandemic between wave one and wave two data collections. In addition, just over 38 percent of respondents indicated that disaster preparedness has helped them with COVID-19. These findings point to the importance of learning and experience in weathering a variety of disasters.
Currently, the project is taking these findings and developing a third wave of the research project, scheduled to begin in the early Fall.