From crisis to comeback: Kendell Thessman on supporting small business through Cyclone Jasper
We can help you build resilience in your business, help you with cash flow, help you try and put aside some funds to get you through these hard times.
Kendell Thessman was one of the dedicated Small Business Financial Counsellors on the ground following Cyclone Jasper, funded by the Australian and Queensland Governments under the Disaster Recovery Funding Arrangements, helping small businesses across the impacted region build the resilience to move beyond Jasper and prepare for whatever comes next.
As a Small Business Financial Counsellor, Kendell Thessman was part of the disaster recovery team that worked one-on-one with businesses across the Cassowary Coast in the aftermath of Cyclone Jasper, businesses affected directly and indirectly alike. What she saw was an impact that didn't end when the cyclone did.
“It wasn't something that came and went. It's an impact that's been ongoing,” Kendell said. “We're actually seeing that people are a little bit more conservative when holidaying in our region, and what this means is that the revenue that they expected over the next two, three months, that doesn't come in. This has been ongoing since Cyclone Jasper.”
In the first days after the cyclone, the work was about crisis response. “It was really about helping them in that critical situation: checking their insurance, helping them with paperwork, helping them with landlord discussions,” Kendell said.
With phone coverage down for up to two days, reaching people, and being reached, was its own challenge. “That face-to-face service was just incredible. It made a big, big difference to people.”
“It was really lovely over time to start getting people back on their feet and getting doors open for business again.”
As businesses moved from crisis into recovery, Kendell's role turned to cash flow, and to the grants and loans made available through the Australian and Queensland Governments.
“We give them the information that they need, they can make informed decisions, and then we can support them with the processes,” she said, pointing to the QRIDA disaster recovery grants as one example. “We've supported many, many small businesses through that process. It can seem overwhelming to people to even start a process like that when you've got so much happening in the background.”
That background often included more than just paperwork. “There might be some mental health challenges, especially for the business owners that were dealing with it in the workplace and at home as well. It's exhausting,” Kendell said.
A wraparound service, including support from the team's Wellbeing Coaches, meant business owners didn't have to face that alone. “Having a small business that's in hardship is isolating, and when you do that on your own, it can be very, very taxing,” she said. “It's nice to be able to walk them through, side by side, and help them recover, and get to a better place.”
The outcomes ranged widely: successful grant applications that helped businesses reopen their doors, advocacy work with the Insurance Council of Australia, and, for a small number, support to exit the business altogether with clarity and confidence in that decision.
One outcome stands out for Kendell. A retail business made vulnerable to weather events approached the challenge differently, working with Kendell to diversify into an online shop, funded in part through small business support funds. “That shop is still going, and it's a great success,” she said.
Looking ahead, Kendell is clear-eyed about what comes next for the Cassowary Coast. “It will happen again,” she said. “Building resilience is the focus. We can help you build resilience in your business, help you with cash flow, help you try and put aside some funds to get you through these hard times.” That support, she's careful to note, comes with no strings attached. “It's free, impartial, confidential. Everything that we discuss remains with us.”
For Kendell, the reward has been watching businesses move from that first, stressful crisis point to something steadier.
“It was really lovely over time to start getting people back on their feet and getting doors open for business again.”
Assistance provided through the jointly funded Commonwealth-state Disaster Recovery Funding Arrangements (DRFA).
