Down, But Not Out. Citizens and small business owners affected by hurricane Frances take advantage of free high-tech resource to communicate, conduct business, move forward.

With more than 350,000 still without power throughout Palm Beach County, a new emergency initiative has been launched to help individuals and small business owners stay in touch with friends, family, customers and vendors during the massive outages still plaguing the area.

(PRWEB) September 8, 2004 -- The eCOM Emergency Communication Center" was launched Tuesday at the Palm Beach County Convention Center at 650 Okeechobee Blvd near downtown West Palm Beach. The free service allows those affected by Frances to surf the Internet at high speeds, check email, shop online for supplies, pay bills online, access insurance websites, book travel and make free local and long distance phone calls among other things. Rent-A-PC of Pompano Beach quickly provided more than 12 computer stations and printers, while Cingular Wireless has provided the ability to make free long distance calls within the US. The center can support as many as 50 internet users, for those with their own computer.

Its miraculous how quickly this effort was coordinated and launched. We hope that this new service will become a long-term initiative, perhaps with FEMA, to use technology and the Internet to soften the impact of a natural disaster on both citizens and small businesses," says Lavar Hoard, eComs Managing Director.

What started as a grass-roots effort by Hoards privately-held company ClearGroup, based in Palm Beach County, and escalated into a cooperative with the Neighbors4Neighbors charity in Miami, quickly became a vision to get the more than 500,000 individuals and small businesses affected by Frances in Palm Beach County back online. The group also has the ability to deploy mobile RVs equipped with the same high-speed wireless internet connection and free calls into areas throughout the state where communication and commerce are impossible, including hard-hit areas without any power or telephone lines.

The mobile units are self-sufficient base-camps that can be deployed at a moments notice, with funding in place of course," Hoard states, this service has never been available to citizens and businesses, but it should be and now it will."

Word of the new service quickly spread, with more than 10 small business owners and citizens showing up to use the services before they were even announced. We have just shown the world that Florida residents and businesses are well equipped to handle natural disasters in the modern world. The impact of natural disasters, like hurricanes, can now more easily be managed and mitigated using computers, the Internet and wireless technologies," says Hoard. This is when and where the true value of the Internet and wireless technology can be measured in real dollars."

LOCATION:
650 Okeechobee Blvd
West Palm Beach, FL 33401
(South at Okeechobee & Rosemary Street, across from City Place Mall.)
HOURS:
11am-8pm Wednesday September 8, 2004 OFFICIAL LAUNCH
8am -- 8pm Monday -- Friday
10am -- 6pm Saturday & Sunday

STATISTICS:
Bureau of Labor Statistics show that as many as 40% of small businesses never reopen after a natural disaster, while another 25% of them close within two years.

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