Prepare My Business.org's disaster planning and preparedness can be your patrons' lifeline to staying in business. This Small Business Administration site provides links to education, planning, testing and disaster assistance to make certain businesses can survive any interruption.

  

Do you have patrons whose small businesses suffered economic injury from Tropical Storm Debby? The Small Business Administration (SBA) has approved more than $10 million in Disaster Assistance Loans for residents and businesses in Florida affected by the storm.

  

Interest rates for businesses are as low as 4 percent, with terms up to 30 years.  The SBA sets the loan amounts and terms based on each applicant's financial condition.

 

Applicants may apply online using the Electronic Loan Application (ELA) via SBA's secure website. 

 

The deadline to return applications for economic injury is April 3, 2013.

Governor Rick Scott has called for the activation of Florida's disaster fund, Neighbors to the Rescue, to assist those who have been affected by tropical storms Debby and Isaac. 

 

The Neighbors to the Rescue fund is managed by the nonprofit Florida's Foundation, under the guidance of a voluntary advisory council.  The fund provides money for long-term recovery needs not met by insurance and government funding.

A listing of additional disaster relief organizations can be found at Emergency Support from Volunteer Florida, the Governor's Commission on Volunteerism and Community Action.

  

Since 2009, the Miami-Dade Public Library System has offered Job Search & Resume Writing workshops in conjunction with Lifelong Learning computer classes. These classes have been available in all 49 branch locations.

 

While attendance has been steady, our customers commented to staff that they needed a little more specialized assistance. While trying to help customers with their job search needs, we discovered that the education, job and computer skills scale was vast, and it varied from one customer to the other. Also, some of the customers' questions were of a sensitive nature, requiring a level of privacy that you do not get in a large group setting. After evaluating this issue and assessing the community's needs, the Library developed a Job Search Assistance program which provides more specialized assistance but requires that the customers schedule an appointment.

 

The new Job Search Assistance program complements our other existing workshops and caters more to the individual needs of each job seeker, because no more than three customers are scheduled at one time.

 

This opportunity has provided customers with a more personalized experience, but with limited resources and low staffing levels, some customers have had to wait several weeks for an appointment.

 
Contact Julio Granda Jr., Urban Affairs Librarian, Miami-Dade Public Library, at [email protected] for more information on this program.

A problem for many of your job seeking patrons is affordable childcare. Here are a few resources to help your patrons find safe, affordable childcare:

• Childcare.gov can help you locate safe and affordable child care options near you.
• Head Start is a federal program that helps children ages birth to five years old from low income families prepare for school. In addition to education, the program provides health, nutrition, and social services depending on your family's needs.
• Florida's Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF) program assists families with children whose parents or responsible caregivers cannot provide for the family's basic needs.

Your patrons can learn more about child care options and how to choose what is best for their families at USA.Gov's Help For Difficult Financial Times site.

FindLaw's Small Business Center provides free legal information and resources for small business owners, and help for entrepreneurs trying to get a business idea off the ground. The Center can provide your patrons with links to information on choosing and forming the right legal structure for their business, legal tips on day-to-day business operations as well as an overview of employment law issues.

FindLaw.com, part of Thomson Reuters, is one of the most popular Internet sites for free legal information with more than five million legal consumers visiting each month to find free information about a legal topic, to solve a legal problem or to search the largest legal directory available.

Many thanks to Julio Granda Jr. for contributing the article on the Job Assistance Program at Miami-Dade Public Library.

 

How is your library supporting workforce recovery efforts? Send your article to Pam Thompson at [email protected] to be included in the next newsletter.