New York SBDC Research Network

Crossgates Mall is taking some heat for keeping stores open during last week's snowstorm. Retail employee Alli Dillenbeck's open letter to the mall on the subject was passed from her blog, http://allidillenbeck.blogspot.com , to Facebook and Twitter users. Commenters on the mall's Facebook page joined the chorus calling for the mall to let stores close and workers go home during such storms. After recounting how she struggled to get to the mall Thursday in the storm, Dillenbeck notes that she called the management office only to be told all those responsible for deciding whether stores could close left at 5 p.m. "Obviously, you care exponentially more about money than the people that work there," Dillenbeck wrote on her blog. ... "I have like 13,000 views on my post," she said. "I was shocked. It went up from 5,000 the day I posted it." Read more from the Albany Times Union . What is YOUR business's policy in case of inclement ...

WASHINGTON – A global climate expert from National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) will share the 2013 Atlantic Hurricane Season forecast during a free webinar Tuesday, May 28 hosted by SBA and Agility Recovery. After the weather discussion, disaster preparedness tips will be presented by Agility. Dr. Gerry Bell has been the lead scientist of NOAA’s Long-Range Hurricane Outlook Team since 1998. He was instrumental in developing NOAA’s Atlantic and East Pacific hurricane activity outlook, and has done weather analysis on CNN and The Weather Channel. The Atlantic Hurricane Season begins June 1. Last year’s season ended memorably when Hurricane Sandy pounded the Eastern Seaboard in late October. The storm caused billions of dollars in damages, and so far the SBA has approved about $370 million in disaster loans to more than 3,500 businesses affected by Sandy. Now is a good time to protect your employees, customers and business from the devastating physical and econom...

There is a future of droughts and downpours for the U.S.A., according to the the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) and the U.S. Climate Change Science Program . The specific report is here with the press release here .