Office Depot and Business Civic Leadership Center (BCLC) to Provide Disaster Preparedness Strategies for Small Business

With the 2011 Atlantic hurricane season now upon us, Office Depot (NYSE:ODP), celebrating 25 years as a leading global provider of office supplies and services, today announced a collaboration with the Business Civic Leadership Center (BCLC) of the U.S. Chamber of Commerce to provide small businesses with preparedness strategies for natural disasters.

According to the Association of Small Business Development Centers, the effects of a disaster can be quite profound:

• More than 1 in 4 businesses will experience a significant crisis in a given year
• Of those businesses that experience a disaster and have no emergency plan, 43 percent never reopen
• Of those that do reopen, only 29 percent are still operating two years later

The most important step any business can take is to create a disaster preparedness and recovery plan. In fact, all this takes is a few simple and inexpensive steps that can help business owners minimize or even prevent disruptive events.

"A small amount of advanced planning and investment can go a long way when it comes to being prepared for a disaster. Being ready can mean the difference between business survival and business closure,” said Gerald McSwiggan, Disaster Manager for Business Civic Leadership Center of the U.S. Chamber of Commerce. "This is an important issue and we’re glad to partner with Office Depot and the Office Depot Foundation to assist America’s small businesses as they proactively manage their disaster risk.”

Some quick tips for creating a disaster plan and preparing your business include:

• Keep the plan simple and inexpensive – It should be easy for employees to follow and not costly to maintain or update in the coming years.
• Update your employee, emergency, and key contact lists – People are an irreplaceable asset, so create/update lists to be used during and after an emergency.
• Back up and protect your data – Without data, a business can’t recover. So, back it up regularly and store it off-site, away from your facility. An inexpensive CD/DVD could be the key to a business’ successful recovery.
• Test the plan – At least annually, exercise your plan to make sure it consistently meets the changing needs of your business, and incorporate any updates.
• Stock up on essential emergency supplies – Disaster preparedness is a wise investment so take a quick trip to an office supply store, like Office Depot, to stock up on very basic and affordable supplies.

For complete details on how small business owners can prepare for unplanned interruptions, visit Office Depot’s Disaster Preparedness Strategy.

In the event your business is affected by a major disaster and requires assistance with relief and recovery efforts, contact the U.S. Chamber BCLC’s National Disaster Help Desk for Business at 1-888-MY BIZ HELP (1-888-692-4943), BCLChelpdesk@uschamber.com, or http://twitter.com/bclchelpdesk.com for support. This 24-hour Help Desk is supported by the Office Depot Foundation - the independent, non-profit foundation that serves as the primary charitable giving arm of Office Depot and is designed to enhance economic recovery after a disaster.

To learn more about the small business products and services available at Office Depot please visit your local Office Depot retail store location or www.officedepot.com. To become a fan of Office Depot on Facebook and receive exclusive content, offers and more, please visit facebook.com/officedepot. To follow Office Depot on Twitter, please visit twitter.com/officedepot.

About Office Depot

Celebrating 25 years as a leading global provider of office supplies and services, Office Depot is Taking Care of Business for millions of customers around the globe. For the local corner store as well as Fortune 500 companies, Office Depot provides supplies and services to its customers through 1,641 worldwide retail stores, a dedicated sales force, top-rated catalogs and global e-commerce operations. Office Depot has annual sales of approximately $11.6 billion, and employs about 40,000 associates around the world. The Company provides more office supplies and services to more customers in more countries than any other company, and currently sells to customers directly or through affiliates in 55 countries.

Office Depot’s common stock is listed on the New York Stock Exchange under the symbol ODP. Additional press information can be found at: http://mediarelations.officedepot.com and http://socialpress.officedepot.com/.

About the Business Civic Leadership Center of the U.S. Chamber of Commerce

BCLC is a 501(c)(3) affiliate of the U.S. Chamber of Commerce and is a resource and voice for businesses and their social and philanthropic interests. Its mission is to advance the positive role of business in society. The U.S. Chamber is the world's largest business federation representing more than 3 million businesses and organizations of every size, sector and region.