CZM Foundation
Equipment hires
John Konwick
CZM Foundation
Equipment announced
the appointment of John
Konwick as northeast sales
manager for the company.
Konwick will oversee all
aspects of sales/consulting
in the foundation, utility
and pile driving industries
for that area.
Konwick has over 20
years of experience in the
industry including sales
and products support specialist
for American Piledriving Equipment and J&M
Hydraulics based in Pittsburgh, Pa., new parts manger
and service manager at ECA and he sits on the board of
directors for the ADSC Northeast.
Half of businesses have increased priority on
disaster preparedness since the start of Covid-19
First Onsite Property Restoration released a survey of
Canadian businesses that takes the pulse of how they prioritize
emergency preparedness. The survey reveals that
more than half of businesses (52 per cent) have placed
an increased priority on disaster preparedness since the
start of the Covid-19 pandemic. Although managers have
realized the importance of preparedness and planning
for business continuity, only two-in-five businesses are
very confident that their company is prepared to deal
with future emergencies or disasters.
First Onsite, surveyed managers, owners, executives
and employees at 500 companies to find out what types
of disasters they had encountered, and the level of preparedness
they felt they had in place.
Four-in-five Canadian businesses have been interrupted
for one of several reasons over the past five
years. Of those who have experienced interruptions,
the pandemic leads the way with 77 per cent of business
interruptions over the past five years.
Surveyed during the third wave of the pandemic and
lockdowns, the study found only 37 per cent of businesses
feel fully prepared to deal with future emergencies or
disasters. Meanwhile, one-in-10 feel this isn’t an urgent
concern, seven per cent feel they are not investing the
appropriate amount, five per cent have been putting this
off due to resource constraints and three per cent are
unprepared or don’t know enough about the topic.
“Major incidents can include anything from wildfires
to full-scale floods, ice storms and hurricanes. However,
it doesn’t have to be weather related to take a business
offline as we have seen through the pandemic lockdowns,”
said Bill Fender, SVP commercial property portfolios,
at First Onsite Property Restoration. “Businesses in all
industries are faced with a unique challenge – hibernating
commercial facilities that are left vacant and unattended.
This is a new problem that business owners and property
managers haven’t faced on this scale before.”
When respondents were asked which types of future
disasters they were concerned about affecting their business,
pandemics again took the lead with 75 per cent of
businesses expressing concern about pandemics affecting
their business.
Proactive planning for business continuity
To understand how businesses prepare, the poll asked
how often disaster recovery plans are tested and only 46
per cent of businesses test/review plans at least once a
year. Twelve per cent of businesses never test/review
their plan and eight per cent do not have a disaster recovery
plan at all.
Twenty-eight per cent of businesses have a preferred
disaster response restoration partner already in place.
The top three services they value most from a disaster
response/restoration company are speed of response (47
per cent), knowledge and expertise (39 per cent) and “gets
my business back online, avoiding long-term disruption”
(36 percent).
“For the businesses that don’t have a restoration
provider in place, this should be the next step in their
emergency planning to ensure business continuity,” said
Fender. “Disaster plans, once only required for government,
are now being insisted upon by corporate boards,
bond rating agencies, investors, insurers and customers.
Once plans are in place, it’s critical to test them on a regular
basis.”
Emergency response planning
Emergencies can strike without warning. First Onsite’s
Priority Response Emergency Plan can accelerate a company’s
recovery through preparedness planning, rapid
response, expert mitigation and business continuity.
“It’s critical for property restoration experts to understand
the client’s infrastructure. That way, when a fire
or flood happens, we already know the company’s needs
and can be on site immediately to begin remediation,
leading to a quicker recovery and minimized disruption,”
said Fender. “We have seen firsthand how businesses
that plan ahead are much more resilient and functioning
more quickly after facing a disaster than those that have
no restoration partner in place, nor planning for how to
respond to an unforeseen emergency.”
INDUSTRY NEWS
Surveyed during the third wave
of the pandemic and lockdowns,
the study found only 37 per cent
of businesses feel fully prepared
to deal with future emergencies
or disasters.
CONTINUED ON PAGE 72
John Konwick
COURTESY OF CZM FOUNDATION EQUIPMENT
70 Issue 4 2021 www.pilingcanada.ca
/www.pilingcanada.ca
