Jay Sachetti joined Jeff O’Brien, partner at Husch Blackwell and Dyanne Ross-Hanson, president of Exit Planning Strategies talked about the market for mergers and acquisitions, exit planning opportunities for companies that don’t end up for sale and how companies can maximize their eventual sale price during an early October panel at the first Upsize on Tap event at Summit Brewing Co. in St. Paul.
When the state Legislature passed a law requiring employers to provide paid leave and safe time for employees, Justin Bieganek started hearing differing details from friends, colleagues and peers.
business builder operations
by Rick Sorley
It’s next to impossible to re-start business operations after a calamity without an insurance payout, and it is very difficult to get a rapid payout if you are unable to show proof of loss.
Showing proof of loss if your vital records are destroyed in the disaster will be challenging. The solution is to draw up a vital records protection plan.
Such a plan is designed to protect from loss or destruction those records (both digital and paper) that are essential to the organization’s operation. To begin, first assess the threats to your businesses’s vital records.
Identify specific risks, such as facility and equipment hazards that can result in flooding to records storage areas, risky storage practices that increase the risk of fire, and periodic electric storms or tornados that could endanger digitally stored vital records.
The next step is to figure out which data needs to be recorded and saved, and out of that, what data constitutes a vital record.
Categories may include contracts and agreements that prove ownership of property, operational records, tax records, current personnel and payroll records, client account histories, current standard operating procedures, produced reports and summaries, and software source codes.
For vital records maintained on media other than paper (microfilm, magnetic tapes, disks, photography) you’ll need specific environmental conditions (temperature and humidity controls) and careful handling to ensure preservation.
For the majority of companies, magnetic tape is the storage medium of choice for archived data, since it has a long shelf life, usually a couple of decades. Specifically designed data cabinets and vaults can be used to provide on-site protection for magnetic tapes and disks.
Remember, fire-resistant file cabinets for paper and microforms do not provide sufficient protection for magnetic tapes, disks and diskettes, since the ignition point of paper and microfilm is much higher than magnetic media. They need to be stored in vaults that hold the temperature constant during a fire.
There are many services available if you choose to outsource your vital records protection. Just be sure to inspect them yourself, first. (See tip box.)
If you opt to store vital records onsite, standard filing equipment is believed to offer fire protection by a large majority of consumers. This thinking can be risky. Seek products that are tested by Underwriters’ Laboratory (UL) or other nationally known independent testing labs. Steer clear of equipment with manufacturers’ or non-independent ratings.
The final key element of the overall vital records approach is the recovery strategy.
• assigning priority to specific categories of vital records to be recovered;
• writing a tracking plan;
• designating one or more secure relocation destinations;
• arranging primary and backup transportation;
• recording the offsite vendor’s and company personnel’s 24-hour contact information;
• training all people involved.
[contact] Rick Sorley is CEO and founder of Safetyfile Inc. in Excelsior, which consults and resells products and services for the protection of records: 800.700.8025; ri***@********le.com; www.safetyfile.com
