This section describes the collaborative efforts of many kinds of organizations all working together to help the business community recover.

Community Response:

The community, overall, was extremely quick in responding to the flood. There was no lapse in time starting the recovery process and rebuilding started within two weeks of the water receding. Several groups, committees, organizations and individuals participated in flood recovery efforts in different capacities. Over time many of these efforts learned that collaboration and communication were key to the work that they were performing.

Cedar Rapids Small Business Recovery Group (CRSBRG):

Cedar Rapids Business owners began organizing as a grass root effort immediately after the flood of 2008 happened. The group focused on the issues that now faced the business community as a result of the flood.

The first informal meeting occurred on Sunday, June 15 which was day three of the flood. This meeting was held in the home of Don Karr with Doug Schumacher and a couple of other flooded business owners. The group discussed the purpose of their efforts, who would lead the group, structure around organizing their effort and specifically what their next steps should be in forming a unified voice for the business community.

The first formal meeting of business owners took place the week after the crest of the flood at a local union hall. Over 250 business owners were present at the meeting. Representatives from the City of Cedar Rapids, FEMA, Small Business Administration and some congressional representatives were in attendance. The meeting presented information about disaster assistance available through the Small Business Administration, contact information for several businesses owners willing to discuss their current situations and importantly provided a forum for business owners to voice their concerns and share their story.

Gary Ficken was appointed President of the group which became known as the Cedar Rapids Small Business Recovery Group. The committee met regularly to discuss issues including the need for financial assistance, road blocks, the need for resources and helping one another.

Leadership for business recovery all pointed toward the same goal, but the direction from organizations took a different path than that of the grass roots group. In the early going, there were tensions, but eventually the movements joined up and a unified effort developed. Dissention resulted in collaboration rather than separation which was an important element in creating a strong, unified voice for business. The Chamber Chair attended a meeting of this grass roots group a few weeks after the flood where differences were aired and resolved. From there, considerable action came forth including business assistance programs.

The Cedar Rapids Small Business Recovery Group evolved over time and the leadership continues to provide assistance and oversight of the business recovery efforts in Cedar Rapids.

The Role of the Chamber of Commerce:

Organizational leadership for business came through the Cedar Rapids Chamber of Commerce which the community looked to as the voice of business. The Chamber was closely partnered with its economic development organization, Priority One and the City of Cedar Rapids. Chamber staff and members focused on the overall business community including small business while Priority One was the organizational leader for large business and industry. In addition to the hundreds of businesses directly impacted by the flood waters, several of the larger industrial and manufacturing businesses had to shut down due to loss of power, loss of sewage discharge and diminished water capacity shut down production, causing tremendous economic losses from the incapacitation.

Recovery & Reinvestment Coordinating Team (RRCT):

There was an eight day period of time between the flood crest and when the waters receded below flood levels. During that week a broad group of community leaders formed the Recovery & Reinvestment Coordinating Team (RRCT). Participating organizations included:

Community Communication:

Communication to all organizations and individuals working in different capacities on flood related issues was a significant barrier. The need for information was incredible in the immediate aftermath. The community had never experienced this type of event and much of the information on recovery programs, next steps and actions taken at a State and City level were significant to the work that all parties were doing.

One of the key initiatives of the RRCT was to create a centralized community web site for disaster issues. Local companies such as Aegon and Rockwell contributed to the development and maintenance of the site. Corridorrecovery.org became the main source for all flood related information and helped the community tremendously with resource information and updates throughout the year following the flood.

Flood Recovery Services/Assistance

Every national and state resource that was offered to the City of Cedar Rapids was employed. For business recovery, those included the Small Business Administration (SBA), Small Business Development Center (SBDC), Entrepreneurial Development Center (EDC), Business Civic Leadership Center (BCLC), the US Chamber, insurance groups and others.

Working Capital Assistance. One of the earliest assistance programs emerged through the Chamber of Commerce and was a locally funded program to get working capital into the hands of businesses. The program was funded by the City of Cedar Rapids, Chamber and Priority One foundations and numerous private contributions through the Greater Cedar Rapids Foundation. Over $6,000,000 was distributed to 330+ small businesses that helped them meet payroll, pay for clean-up and other disaster expenses. Many businesses cited this early financial assistance program as having saved their business. It came at a time when cash was depleted and revenues were considerably down and disaster loans had not yet been finalized. Many of these businesses were operating on the owners assets which included cashing out investments, retirement accounts and use of personal credit cards. SCORE volunteers helped educate businesses and helped them with the application process for this program. A three-person panel of community leaders then reviewed and approved the awards with fund administration conducted through the Chamber.

Jump Start 1 was the name given to the programs structured and funded through State and Federal sources to assist business with grants and forgivable loans. $19,000,000 was allocated and awarded in this early program to fund clean-up and provide needed working capital. Since there was no existing federal process for business assistance, this initial program leveraged the existing commercial loan qualification structure. A business could receive up to 25%, capped at $50,000 of documented commercial loan eligibility; i.e.,    a business approved for a $200,000 disaster loan through a bank or SBA could qualify for Jump Start assistance equal to $50,000 (25%) in the form of a forgivable loan.

Local Option Sales Tax (LOST):  Surprisingly, one of the top priorities of the Cedar Rapids Small Business Recovery Group was to promote the passing of the proposed Local Option Sales Tax (LOST) earmarked for flood impacted homeowners to assist in their rebuilding.

• The CRSBRG President, Gary Ficken, was insightful enough to realize that no one would be interested in the struggles of several hundred business owners when there were thousands of homeowners impacted by the floods.
• About this same time, the CRSBRG came to realization that the city, as a whole, had to recover at approximately the same time.
  • Cities can't operate if they don't have a tax base
  • Households can't pay taxes if they don't have jobs
  • Employers can't hire if they have excess debt and can’t pay employees

Adopt A Business. Mentoring assistance started to emerge in several ways during early recovery stage. A program called Adopt A Business was organized through the Chamber of Commerce and matched non-flooded businesses and their resources with flooded businesses. Assistance through this program included temporary facilities, business coaching, and financial assistance; clean up labor, construction materials and more.  Click here for more information.

Linn County Emergency Management Agency. The Chamber had a representative housed at the Linn County Emergency Management Agency. Other interests represented at the center included law enforcement, fire, 1^st responders, medical, nuclear power plant (DAEC), utilities and public works. Having a business representative in the emergency center proved to be a valuable resource and communication liaison. Business issues directed to the center included chemical evacuations, building access for emergency procedures, water discharge variances, contamination and numerous others.

Advising Services. The local Small Business Development Center started an early case management program, helping clients with business advisory services as well as a case manager to help with issues such as building codes and permits. Services such as legal and accounting were widely offered by professionals at little or no cost to their flooded clients. These professional services were especially important to determine losses, apply for loans and grants, file insurance claims, purchase property, file and amend tax returns and much more. Gratitude and loyalty among businesses and these professionals was tremendous and represented another area often cited by businesses as having saved them.

Relocation. Local commercial real estate firms provided rapid response to connecting businesses with available sites. Within days, all commercial property throughout the county was fully occupied through leases or building purchases as businesses relocated to permanent or temporary sites. Businesses that had multiple locations pre flood fared best, moving or consolidating operations to their other sites was an option. Others were able to purchase or commit to long term leases in new locations. Still others ran operations from their homes. As an outreach element many non-flooded businesses provided generous to flooded businesses by providing temporary space. Most of this was provided without charge or on a cost of operation basis which was far below market rents.

Clean up. National flood clean up specialists appeared in the city within days. The business community had little experience in dealing with the contracting process and resulted in one of the larger initial problems cited in recovery. Rates for mucking, cleaning, sanitizing and dry down were widely varied and many businesses expressed they were not treated fairly in their clean up contracts. Total costs often exceeded verbal quotes, charged substantial premiums over local service and presented situations of theft and worker misbehavior. Clean up through local disaster cleanup firms was rated higher than national contractors, but even some of the local contractors took criticism for rates at times.

Rebuilding.  The general process for businesses was determining if and how they would rebuild. This was an extremely swift cycle in Cedar Rapids compared to other disasters such as Katrina. The decision to rebuild was made primarily on the ability to obtain financing (commercial or SBA disaster loan), willingness of employees to participate in the rebuild and the desire of business owners to return to the business they knew. There was little economic data available or considered that offered insight as to how the market would change. The general method was to consider personal ability to start over, obtain employee commitment to make the journey and obtain the financing to rebuild. All of this was with the general trust the task was immense and much was unknown, but that things would work out.

Financing for Rebuild.  One of the most immediate recovery activities was to seek financing to rebuild. The Small Business Administration (SBA) was very quick to respond and sent a team to set up a temporary disaster center. The region was declared a national disaster area making the region eligible for special disaster loan funds. Information was provided to businesses, questions were answered and those interested in pursuing these loans were directed through the application process. SBA disaster loans were provided with terms up to 30 year repayment with interest rates of 4-8%. Most businesses stated this was a long and complicated process with a great deal of paperwork and documentation. In addition, collateral and terms of securing the loan were far more than commercial loan requirements. However, those that opted for SBA loans did so primarily because of the 30 year amortization period that was not available through commercial lenders.

Proposal for Business Case Management Program

The Cedar Rapids Small Business Recovery Group early on started asking and looking for case management resources to help them with the overwhelming task of disaster recovery. Most owners and managers were consumed by recovery issues while at the same time needing to run a business. The Chamber Flood Recovery Task Force advanced the idea for a business case management program and requested unallocated Community Disaster Grant (CDG) funds being administered through the City to fund such a program.

The Chamber CEO submitted an RFP for City Council consideration and the Chamber was awarded funding for up to two years to provide business recovery services. The Chamber contracted with experienced independent business consultants to develop and provide the first business case management program of this kind.

In December of 2009, 18 months after the flood, the program launched to an immense backlog of flood recovery issues.