Post-Hurricane Matthew Field Study in Lumberton, North Carolina Business Recovery Survey, Wave 6

Interview Guide – Businesses

Post-Hurricane Matthew Field Study in Lumberton, North Carolina

Business Recovery Survey

U.S. Department of Commerce

National Institute of Standards and Technology

Generic Clearance for Community Resilience Data Collections

OMB CONTROL NO. 0693-0078

Expiration Date 07/31/2025

This collection of information contains Paperwork Reduction Act (PRA) requirements approved by the Office of Management and Budget (OMB). Notwithstanding any other provisions of the law, no person is required to respond to, nor shall any person be subject to a penalty for failure to comply with, a collection of information subject to the requirements of the PRA unless that collection of information displays a currently valid OMB control number. For this collection, the OMB Control number is: 0693-0078 with an expiration date: July 31, 2025. Public reporting burden for this collection is estimated to be 60 minutes per survey, including the time for reviewing instructions, searching existing data sources, gathering, and maintaining the data needed and completing and reviewing the collection of information. Send comments regarding this burden estimate or any aspect of this collection of information, including suggestions for reducing this burden, to the National Institute of Standards and Technology, Attn: Dr. Jennifer Helgeson, NIST, 100 Bureau Drive, MS 8603, Gaithersburg, MD 20899-1710, telephone 240-672-2575, or via email:jennifer.helgeson@nist.gov

Thank you for meeting with us today. My name is [XX] and my associate is [XX]. We are part of a research team through the Center for Risk-Based Community Resilience Planning, funded by the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) Center of Excellence housed at Colorado State University.

This research is focused on learning about disaster recovery and community resilience. We hope to learn about the decisions businesses made before, during, and after the flooding that occurred in Lumberton following Hurricane Matthew in 2016 and Hurricane Florence in 2018. We also want to learn about the impact COVID-19 has had in the recovery of the business community in Lumberton. Additionally, we’d like to understand if experiences from hurricane recovery have changed how COVID-19 has impacted your business. We will use this information to help build models that communities can use to better prepare for, respond to, and recover from future disasters.

We have a series of questions that we would like to ask you. The interview should take about 60 minutes to complete. We would also like to ask your permission to record the session for our notes. The recording will be kept confidential.

Do you have any questions about the interview or the project before we begin? Please remember that you can decide to stop at any point.

Interview Questions: Probes:

1. Personal Information First, will you please say your name, title, and the name of your organization?	*What is your role in the business?
2. Disaster recovery – Business Tell me about you / your organization's experience during the 2016 flooding? [as appropriate]. Tell me about you / your organization's experience during the 2018 flooding? [as appropriate] Tell me about you / your organization's experience during COVID-19? [as appropriate]	*How long did it take you to consider your business to be “recovered”? *What were the biggest barriers to recovery? *What resources were most helpful for you in recovery? *What resources or information would have been helpful for you during recovery?
3. Disaster recovery – Community Do you think Lumberton has recovered from the hurricanes and COVID-19? What changes have you seen in Lumberton since Hurricane Matthew? How does the recovery of the community affect the recovery of this business?	*Are there areas or groups in Lumberton that have recovered faster or slower than others? *What do you think is driving any changes you are seeing? *In what ways has this business supported Lumberton’s recovery? *In what ways have you received community support in the business’s recovery?
4. Future Planning and Mitigation What have you done to prepare for past disasters? Will you do anything differently if another disaster occurs?	*Please walk us through your decision-making process. *Who/what other people or organizations influenced your decision to mitigate? *Do you feel like you have the resources the business requires to effectively mitigate? If not, what do you need? [alternative: What barriers exist for the business when it comes to mitigating against or preparing for disasters (e.g., time, money, expertise)?
5. Reflection If you could give advice to another business about your experience after these disasters, what would that advice be?

Business Demographics Questions:

1. What is the operational status of this business?

⃝ Open

⃝ Permanently closed

⃝ Moved to alternative location provide address:______________________________

⃝ Not sure/don’t know take notes on anything that can help us identify the status of the business:

_____________________________________________________________

_____________________________________________________________

2. In what year was this business established at this location? ______________

3. What is your role with this business?

⃝ Owner

⃝ Manager

⃝ Owner and Manager

4. In which year did you start working for this business? _______

5. What is the current status of this business? Read all options.

⃝ Fully open with the same products and services as pre-COVID-19

⃝ Open, but with fewer or different products or services as pre-COVID-19

⃝ Temporarily closed, but plan to reopen.

⃝ Permanently closed.

⃝ Other (Please explain):_____________________________________________________________

6. How many years have you worked as a business owner/manager? _____________ (years)

7. What is your age? ________________

8. What is your ethnicity?

⚪ Hispanic or Latino ⚪ Not Hispanic or Latino

9. What race do you classify yourself as (select all that apply)? You may skip this if you prefer.

⃝ White

⃝ Black or African American

⃝ American Indian or Native American

⃝ Asian (Asian Indian, Chinese, Korean, etc.)

⃝ Native Hawaiian or other Pacific Islander

10. What is your number of years of schooling? Enter number of years _______

10.a. Indicate type of diploma or degree:

⃝ High School

⃝ Associates Degree

⃝ Bachelors Degree

⃝ Masters Degree of Higher

⃝ Other

This has been exceptionally helpful, and we are grateful for your time. Are there any final thoughts or comments that you would like to add?

Thank the respondent. [stop recording]

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