Providing Disaster Recovery Response – Doing Business with FEMA
If your business is interested in providing disaster recovery to areas affected by Tropical Storm Helene, it’s important to take the time to be fully informed before you put boots on the ground in disaster areas. The Association of Procurement Technical Assistance Centers has compiled a list of Steps to Take Now if you are planning to join the clean-up and recovery effort.
The following resources are also available to help you plan your involvement.
WEBINARS & WORKSHOPS
Doing Business with FEMA – General Information Session – OCTOBER 15, 11:00 AM – Noon
The Virginia SBDC is offering a webinar featuring the Southwest Virginia APEX Accelerator that will cover general information for those who are interested in the process of doing business with FEMA – including SAM (System for Award Management) registration and how to correctly fill out the Disaster Recovery Response section for your business to be added to the Disaster Response Registry.
If you miss this webinar, a replay will be available on-demand on the Virginia SBDC website at https://www.virginiasbdc.org/recorded-webinars/
Disaster Recovery Q & A with the SBA – On-Demand
View this informational session – including Q&A – with Carl Knoblock, District Director for the U.S. Small Business Administration discussing the disaster recovery process following Hurricane Helene. This session provides:
- an update on the current status of recovery efforts,
- what contractors and construction workers need to do to work on cleanup projects with FEMA (including the requirement to register in Sam.gov),
- tips for small businesses that have lost sales or food inventory on how to begin valuing these losses for proper documentation.
HANDS-ON WORKSHOP
SAM.GOV Assistance Workshop – November 5, 2:00 PM – 5:00 PM – SBDC Office, 220 University Blvd, Harrisonburg
Experts from the Shenandoah Valley Small Business Development Center (SV SBDC), Shenandoah Community Capital Fund (SCCF), Shenandoah Valley Technology Council (SVTC), and James Madison University’s Research, Economic Development and Innovation (REDI) Division will be on hand during this in-person workshop to walk you through the steps of registering with SAM.GOV and explore funding and collaboration opportunities for your concept.
MORE RESOURCES
There are never shortcuts in government contracting. The Virginia SBDC’s sister-program, the APEX Accelerator (formerly the Procurement Technical Assistance Center (PTAC)), can help you—at no cost—to take the steps you need to be eligible, to find, and to bid on government contracts. Disaster recovery is a long process; doing the right things now will position you to take advantage of opportunities that are still weeks or months down the road.
Contact Southwest Virginia APEX Accelerator: https://sw.edu/apex/
State APEX Accelerator: https://virginiaapex.org
If not already registered in SAM.gov, Virginia APEX Accelerator clients can receive help on this from their procurement counselor, but because our counselors are by appointment only and booked for weeks in advance, we recommend new clients first register to request assistance and then obtain our subscription code for Govology (once accepted as a client email us) to obtain free access to this self-guided walk-through while waiting for an appointment: https://govology.com/product/properly-set-update-sam-gov
Please feel free to contact your SV SBDC for additional assistance and answers to questions. You can get in touch with us at 540.568.3227 or via message on our Contact page.
