With the onset of hurricane season, businesses would do well to heed the Boy Scout motto: Be prepared.

"The first thing we tell businesses is the same thing we tell individuals, and that's, 'Have a plan,'" says Gerald Campbell, chief of planning for Lee County Emergency Management.

A good source for creating that plan is the Florida Division of Emergency Management Web site, www.floridadi saster.org. Business owners can enter information about their companies, and the site creates a customized disaster plan for the business.

How important is it for a business to have such a plan? According to the division, almost 40 percent of small businesses that close due to a disaster event never reopen. The impact of those losses reaches beyond the business itself. "It's important to the community that businesses get open and things get back to normal," says Jim von Rinteln, emergency management coordinator for Collier County Emergency Management.

Plans for businesses should include an inventory of supplies needed to reopen, ways to safeguard important documents and procedures for employees to evacuate an office. Businesses should tailor strategies to fit their circumstances.

Involving employees in the process is always a good idea. "A focused team will help you create a better plan," says Campbell. Once the plan is completed, managers must share it with all staff members and encourage them to come up with disaster plans for themselves and their families.

Practice the company's disaster policies and procedures with employees from time to time. "Sit around a table at lunch one day with pizza and ask folks, 'The hurricane is 72 hours away and we think it might come here. Bill, what would you be doing?'" says Campbell.

If a storm is approaching, businesses need to back up critical computer files and make sure that important documents and records can be accessed in any circumstance.

"Many local businesses hadn't taken proper steps before Hurricane Charley," says Betty Williams, Charlotte County's economic development director of the Charlotte County Economic Development Office. "We found that after the storm had passed, when we didn't have electricity and everyone's information was on the computer, they had nothing."

Have hard copies of vital records, and consider sending copies of important files to someone outside the area. "For Charley, I took our computer hard drive home with me, and then my roof went," says Julie Mathis, executive director of the Charlotte County Chamber of Commerce. "Luckily the hard drive was fine. But last year I shipped a disc to my sister's house in North Carolina."

Business executives who have considered ahead of time how to handle storm damage can often get back on their feet more quickly than those who wait until after a storm. "Talk to your insurance company. And maybe even talk to a contractor, so you know who you'd call if you have damage," says von Rinteln. That can put you at the front of the line for the contractor's services.

Having key financial records on hand can speed up the small business emergency bridge-loan process. "The key is to be ready to be back in business as soon as possible," says Campbell. "If you can get a day ahead of the other guy, that's an important day for the business. People will remember."

When a storm comes through, local officials may limit access to hard-hit areas, so think about reentry procedures when crafting a disaster plan. "It's important that the owner of a business supply employees with some sort of ID that states that these people are employees of my company and should be granted access back into the area," says von Rinteln. If ID badges aren't in your company's budget, even a simple letter printed on company letterhead should do the trick when names are matched to employees' driver's licenses.

In Charlotte and Lee counties, businesses can register with their local economic development offices to get assistance with disaster preparedness and recovery. These registries also help the counties identify suppliers of critical services that may be needed.

"We have a hurricane network on our Web site (www.leecountybusiness.com), and after a hurricane, we start by calling all the businesses to learn what the needs are," says Regina Smith, economic development director.

After both Charley and Wilma, Smith's office implemented the Emergency Small-Business Bridge Loan program using state dollars to provide interest-free loans for up to six months. "We had 190 loans out after Charley, and a few after Wilma," she says. "It's a quick turnaround loan, about 24 hours, and $25,000 is the max for a company that needs to replace some things, buy new inventory, that kind of thing."

Along with the rest of the hurricane plan-equipment and inventory maintenance, reaching out to employees-that covers the bases, Smith figures.

The only question is: How accurate will storm forecasters be this year?

The Economic Development Council of Collier County offers a mobile alert system. To receive text messages about preparing your business, recovery efforts and other pertinent information, people can text "CCEDCSTORM" to the number 247365.

In addition to helping businesses prepare for storms, the EDC assists in recovery. If a storm strikes, it activates the Business Assistance Center-a "one-stop shop" for business owners to apply for assistance including SBA loans and bridge loans. The Southwest Florida Workforce Development Board also slips in to help employers find work for temporarily displaced staff members.

Just as individuals are encouraged to put together hurricane kits at home, businesses should have supplies like bottled water and nonperishable food on hand. If the power is out and local restaurants aren't open, your employees will appreciate the sustenance as they work to help get your business up and running again.