The Federal Reserve Bank of New York on Feb. 17 reported that its Empire State Manufacturing Survey general business-conditions index fell 2.2 points to 7.8 in the February survey.

 

Economists and analysts had been expecting a reading of about 9, according to Briefing.com and MarketWatch.

 

Despite the decline, the New York Fed said the figure suggests “that conditions for New York manufacturers improved modestly for a second consecutive month.” 

That’s because index readings above zero represent improving conditions. 

 

The survey found 29 percent of manufacturing respondents reported that conditions had improved, while 21 percent indicated that manufacturing activities had worsened.

 

The new-orders index fell 5 points to 1.2, indicating that orders were “essentially flat.” The shipments index climbed 5 points to 14.1, signaling that shipments “increased at a faster pace this month.” 

 

The unfilled-orders index remained negative at -6.7. 

 

The delivery-time index rose from negative territory for the first time in several months. At 1.1, the index suggested that delivery times had not shortened as in 

previous months, but rather were “little changed.” 

 

The inventories index, at -2.3, indicated that inventory levels were “slightly lower.”

 

The prices-paid index inched up 2 points to 14.6, signaling a “moderate” increase in input prices for a fifth consecutive month. 

 

The prices-received index fell 9 points to 3.4, indicating that the pace of selling price increases “slowed.” 

 

Labor-market indicators pointed to an increase in employment levels, but “little change” in hours worked. 

 

The index for number of employees dipped 4 points to 10.1, while the average workweek index came in at -1.1.

 

Indexes assessing the six-month outlook, though “generally positive,” conveyed “considerably less optimism” about future business activity than in recent months. 

 

The index for future general-business conditions plunged 23 points to 25.6, its lowest level in more than two years. 

 

The future new-orders and shipments indexes also posted “significant” declines. 

 

The future prices-paid index fell several points to 27.0, and the future prices-received index declined 10 points to 5.6, its lowest level in more than five years. 

 

The index for expected number of employees, though lower, remained positive at 24.7. 

 

The capital-expenditures index “surged” 18 points to 32.6, its highest level in more than three years, and the technology-spending index rose to 19.1.

 

The New York Fed distributes the Empire State Manufacturing Survey on the first day of each month to the same pool of about 200 manufacturing executives in 

New York. On average, about 100 executives return responses.      

 

SCHUYLER — Every organization should have a plan to deal with a hazard or disaster, one that focuses on both life safety and disruptions in the normal flow of operations.

 

And it doesn’t matter if the organization is a business, a nonprofit, or a government agency.

 

That’s according to Timothy Riecker, a partner in Emergency Preparedness Solutions, LLC (EPS), which is headquartered in Schuyler in Herkimer County. 

 

Riecker has served in public safety for more than 17 years, 14 of which have been in the field of emergency management, according to the EPS website.

 

Riecker lumps hazards into categories that include weather events and earthquakes; “non-intentional human incidents,” such as the failure of a dam or nuclear facility or a hazardous-material spill; and terrorist or events with a criminal intent, such as a shooting or a bombing.

 

He spoke with CNYBJ on Feb. 23. 

 

“Most of the things in your plan are going to apply to most hazards, most of the time,” says Riecker. 

 

Create a plan

Devising a business-continuity plan requires a planning team, which Riecker says is “the first and probably most important aspect of the process.”

 

The team should include representatives from the company’s management along with its finance and human-resources departments.

 

“They may even also, for some of this planning, invite in area emergency-services [personnel] to advise [the firm from] their perspective,” says Riecker.

 

The team should then identify potential hazards that affect areas of upstate New York — including the company’s specific location — such as fires, floods, severe 

thunderstorms, and winter storms.

 

Afterward, the team should conduct a “hazard-vulnerability analysis,” which identifies the frequency of such hazards affecting the region or the company’s specific area, and the potentially resulting impacts and severity of those impacts.

 

“Businesses also need to think comprehensively. They can’t just necessarily think within their four walls,” says Riecker. 

 

Companies need to consider their suppliers, distributors, and other vendors connected to business operations.

 

As an example, Riecker says a firm should have a plan if a supplier travels north from Pennsylvania on Interstate 81 and a storm prompts a highway closure.

 

The team should next identify “mission-essential functions.”

 

“In doing that, the company really needs to look at those things that essentially must continue to be done for [it] to remain a viable business,” says Riecker. 

 

They include legal and regulatory obligations, contractual obligations, and payroll.

 

After that, the team needs to conduct, what Riecker calls, a “business-impact analysis.”

 

“This is essentially taking into consideration the information [obtained] in the hazard-vulnerability analysis and looking at it through the lens of your mission-essential functions,” says Riecker.

 

The team then needs to examine ways to prevent or mitigate the hazards and how they could impact the business. 

 

The “number one” step is ensuring the company has the proper insurance policies in place, says Riecker.

 

“Talk to your agent, have them come in, and ask them the question. Ask them about flood insurance and make sure you’ve given a fair evaluation of your business assets so you have a good replacement value,” he adds. 

 

In addition, the team should make certain the firm has taken all steps to ensure employee health and safety, along with having a sump pump, a sprinkler system, and smoke and carbon-monoxide detectors for flood and fire prevention.

 

“If those were in place … just those things alone would prevent a lot of business losses,” says Riecker.

 

Once the team gathers all the necessary data, it can then devise the continuity plan that outlines strategies for handling the impacts of any hazards or disasters.

The plan, Riecker says, should be “implementation ready.”

 

“People can pull these [documents] out, take a look at them, and, in this moment of panic and information overload, they can see a very focused list … of what it is that they need to do,” says Riecker.

 

The final steps involve training the staff on the plan, exercising the plan, and reviewing the plan.

 

For many businesses, exercising the plan will involve sitting down and going through a scenario of introducing a hazard and talking it through, says Riecker.

 

“And seeing if the plan holds up to its intent,” he adds.

 

If the plan has some flaws, Riecker says, the company should revise the document until it is comfortable that the procedures can help in an emergency.

 

Companies should review their continuity plans “annually, unless [they] have some kind of a major change in the environment or in the business operation,” he adds.

 

Riecker also recommends two websites to help in the process, including www.preparemybusiness.org, a website that the U.S. Small Business Administration sponsors; and www.readyrating.org, an American Red Cross website on which a business can create a profile and find out its level of preparedness after answering a series of questions. 

 

The same business can log on periodically to update its score, he says. 

 

About EPS

Emergency Preparedness Solutions, LLC is a private consulting firm specializing in emergency and disaster planning, training, and exercises for private sector, government, and nonprofit clients, according to its website. 

 

EPS provides services through individualized experiences, focusing on the needs of each individual client to prepare them for the direct and “cascading impacts” of naturally occurring and human-caused disasters, the website says. 

 

The firm’s goal is to help its clients be better prepared for disasters, “resulting in preservation of life and property and minimizing financial impact.” 

EPS serves clients locally and nationally, both as a primary consultant and as a subcontractor.

UTICA, N.Y. –– The House of the Good Shepherd, which provides foster care and other services to children, announced it has hired Myron Thurston III as its new development and communications director.

Thurston will succeed Carol Altimonte, who worked at the nonprofit for 33 years. Altimonte is retiring today (Feb. 27), according to Sean Farrell, the organization’s communications coordinator.

In his new job, Thurston will be responsible for building relationships with the community to help raise funds for The House of the Good Shepherd, Farrell says in a phone interview. Thurston’s work will include exploring capital campaigns to secure funding for new buildings and other renovations.

“The House is excited about the energy and enthusiasm that Myron brings,” Bob Roberts, executive director of the organization, said in a news release. “He is extremely eager to build upon the solid foundation that has been laid out, and is committed to our mission of changing children’s lives.”

The House of the Good Shepherd has not has run a capital campaign since the mid-1990s, Farrell says, but it planning one for the future.

Thurston has been the assistant director of development and communications at the Cardiac Research Institute at Masonic Medical Research Laboratory for the last five years, according to the release. Previously, he was the campaign director for the United Way of the Valley and Greater Utica Area.

Thurston is a member of the board of directors and chair of the Publicity Committee of Utica Safe Schools and Healthy Partnerships, as well as vice chair of the board of directors for the American Red Cross of the Mohawk Valley.

The House of the Good Shepherd is a regional provider of treatment services for 600 traumatized children and families annually, according to the release. A treatment program ranges from psychiatric services to foster care, with 80 percent of children served in the community.

The House operates from 13 sites, with a $23.2 million budget, and 350 employees who work in the Utica and Watertown area, according to the release. Its main campus is at 1550 Champlin Ave. in Utica.