Science Trust program offers free online business resiliency curriculum
The Puerto Rico Science, Technology and Research Trust’s Resiliency and Business Innovation program has designed a curriculum on “Resilience for Businesses,” it announced.
The initiative run with funds from the Economic Development Agency (EDA i6), is being done jointly with George Mason University — Center for Resilient and Sustainable Communities and Echar Pa’ Lante.
“Building a Resilient Business: Before, during, and after a disaster” is a course designed for businesses of all sizes and industries taking into account all recent developments in Puerto Rico, the nonprofit said.
The course consists of 1.5-hour webinars and technical assistance and will run during six consecutive Thursdays from 6 p.m. to 7:30 p.m., from May 21 through June 25.
During the course, companies will use a handbook to develop a resilience plan which they will have completed at the end of the six weeks with the assistance of the George Mason University team and local business support expert volunteers.
By the end of the course, participants are expected to have learned how to prepare for the four phases of resilience: Anticipate, cope, recover and adapt/replacement, through the value of a Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities, and Threats (SWOT) analysis; analysis of the hazards that businesses may face; how to protect business assets (personnel, information, operations); and how to adapt to changing business conditions.
Those that complete the 12-hour course will receive a certificate of participation, the nonprofit said.
Linton Wells II, Jean Pierre Auffrett and Robert Rogers, practitioners from George Mason University who have worked with resilience in different countries and bring, more than the theoretical part, the experience of working with emergency and disaster management, will offer the curriculum, the Science Trust said.
The curriculum is free of charge, spaces are limited — so registration is required — and will be conducted in English.
