Business Recovery

For business owners

• SBA disaster loans cover physical damage and, through Economic Injury Disaster Loans, lost revenue. See the Financial section
• Document everything — damage, lost inventory, lost revenue, and every day you are closed
• File your commercial claim immediately and ask specifically about business interruption coverage, which many owners forget they have
• The Wisconsin Economic Development Corporation and the Fox Cities Chamber are the places to watch for disaster grant programs
• Your local Small Business Development Center offers free advising, including disaster recovery planning

For workers

• If your workplace is closed or destroyed, you may qualify for unemployment insurance — apply at dwd.wisconsin.gov even if you expect to be called back
• If a federal disaster is declared, Disaster Unemployment Assistance may cover self-employed and gig workers who do not normally qualify
• Your employer must still pay you for hours already worked

Confirmed significant damage includes Miller Electric in Appleton and Manderfield's Home Bakery in Menasha, along with many other businesses through the damage path in Menasha, Grand Chute and southwest Appleton.

Heckrodt Wetland Reserve in Menasha has closed all trails while staff assess damage and clear debris. Reopening information will be posted to its Facebook page.

If you own or work at an affected business and want it listed — whether to say you are closed, that you have reopened, or that you need help — please submit it. When these places reopen, that is worth publishing too.

The best thing anyone can do for a damaged local business is spend money there when it reopens.