April 17th, 2019
by Ryan Colker

Since 2000, flood disasters have caused more than $800 billion in losses stemming from business interruptions and damage to infrastructure, such as roads, hospitals and schools. Research indicates that following a disaster, roughly 40 to 60 percent of small businesses never reopen their doors, and 90 percent fail within a year unless they can resume operations within five days.

The Pew Charitable Trusts and the U.S. Chamber of Commerce are convening a discussion — The Business Case for Flood-Ready Infrastructure — on April 30, 2019, in Washington, D.C., on the impacts of flooding events to our nation’s business community. Ryan Colker, executive director of the Alliance for National & Community Resilience (ANCR) and ANCR Vice Chair Tom Phillips, principal of building regulatory strategy at Target Corp., will join local officials and organizations representing small and large businesses to focus on how Congress and the administration can make resilient investments and forward-thinking policy decisions that ensure communities and businesses are better able to thrive in the face of increasing flood-disasters.

Click here to register by April 26, 2019.

About the Author
Ryan Colker
Ryan Colker is the vice president of innovation at the International Code Council where he identifies emerging issues in the building industry, including how new technologies can be leveraged by codes and standards, methods to modernize the application of building regulations, and the development of new business strategies that support members and building safety professionals. He also serves as executive director of the Alliance for National and Community Resilience. Most recently, Colker was the vice president of the National Institute of Building Sciences, where he led the institute’s efforts to improve the built environment through collaboration of public and private sectors. Previously, he was the manager of government affairs at ASHRAE.