SBA Delivers New Disaster Recovery Plan to Congress

WASHINGTON, June 6 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- The Administrator of the U.S. Small Business Administration, Steven Preston, today briefed Congressional leaders on the agency's new Disaster Recovery Plan (DRP). The plan, which was delivered to Congress on June 1 -- the beginning of Hurricane Season -- focuses on the agency's strategy for rapidly ramping its capacity in response to large-scale disasters.

The new DRP indicates that since the 2005 Gulf Coast hurricanes, SBA has dramatically redesigned its Disaster program, quadrupling its loan processing capacity, enhancing customer service and increasing accountability.

"The Disaster Recovery Plan demonstrates the tremendous progress SBA has made towards a 21st century Disaster program," said Administrator Preston. "We are now far better equipped to handle a catastrophic disaster than at any time in agency history."

A collaborative, cross-disciplinary team within SBA worked for several months to share best practices and lessons learned to develop a method for ramping up its operations to a high performance level in major disasters.

SBA's response to catastrophic disasters has five guiding principles, which allow the agency to execute an agency-wide surge plan and effectively partner with other agencies and levels of government across the United States:

  1) SBA is prepared to respond. Based on process improvement and lessons
     learned, SBA has an improved organizational infrastructure to respond
     to catastrophic disaster events swiftly and effectively.
  2) SBA is trained to respond. Training and coordination are the keys to
     preparedness. A vast majority of employees who are involved in SBA's
     catastrophic disaster response plan have been trained and will continue
     to be trained in their roles. They also will receive clear guidance on
     how the recovery plan will be implemented.
  3) SBA's response requires an "all hands on deck" approach. Employees
     across the entire SBA organization will have key roles to play in core
     functions and will be valuable assets to help SBA achieve the level of
     performance Americans require and expect.
  4) SBA takes pride in quality assurance and customer service. The agency
     will continuously strive to deliver the highest level of quality in
     service. Customers will be provided with the necessary support and
     communication channels to minimize confusion and ensure a positive
     experience during their time of greatest need.
  5) SBA's response will be coordinated with its government partners. The
     agency will communicate with local, state, and federal government
     agencies, including Congress, to deliver timely assistance.

As a testament to SBA's commitment to customer service and dedication to assisting disaster survivors, the agency's reforms continue to show that progress is being made in the Gulf Coast region:

  -- Of 160,000 applicants with approved loans from the 2005 Gulf Coast
     hurricanes, 99 percent have now either received all or some of their
     loan money, or have chosen not to proceed with their loans.
  -- $5.7 billion has been provided to home and business owners in the Gulf
     Coast region who are seeking to rebuild.

For the latest news and information on SBA's Disaster Assistance Program, please visit http://www.sba.gov/services/disasterassistance/disasterpreparedness/index.html