A Year After Harvey: Three Brothers Bakery Continues to Persevere

HOUSTON, Aug. 22, 2018 /PRNewswire-PRWeb/ -- Earlier this year, Three Brothers Bakery received the Small Business Association's 2018 Phoenix Award for Outstanding Small Business Disaster Recovery, following Hurricane Harvey. The bakery suffered nearly $1 million in losses at its original store location on South Braeswood Boulevard in Southwest Houston. The main store and production facility were inundated with four-and-a-half feet of water as Hurricane Harvey dumped more than 50 inches of rain on Houston within four days. The bakery's resilience, previous experience from five other disasters and almost $1 million in small business disaster recovery loans from the U.S. Small Business Administration allowed the bakery to re-open less than three weeks following the storm.

Bakery co-owner Janice Jucker credits their bakery staff, flood insurance, the SBA and their previous disaster recovery experience as the catalyst to recuperating quickly in the wake of a disaster.

Since 1998, the U.S. Small Business Administration has presented Phoenix Awards to business owners, public officials and volunteers who displayed selflessness, ingenuity and tenacity in the aftermath of a disaster, while contributing to the rebuilding of their communities.

"We cannot thank the SBA enough for the tools they provide us to grow and now to remain open," said Janice Jucker, co-owner of Three Brothers Bakery. "We applied for this award to highlight the difficulties small businesses experience after disasters and to use our story when we speak to lawmakers about changes that would help small businesses recover," said Jucker.

Since 2001, the bakery has endured four floods, a hurricane and a fire. To stay prepared and ready for any imminent natural disaster threat, Janice Jucker advises other small business owners to have a plan in place.

"As a small business owner, it's essential to have every kind of hazard insurance you can have with the lowest deductible, because cash will be essential following a disaster," said Jucker. "After disaster hits, the most important thing you can do is find your employees and make sure they're accounted for and their needs are met, which includes making sure they are paid on schedule. You can put everything else on a credit card, but you cannot put your payroll on a charge card, so having cash is imperative."

Jucker also advises business owners to have financial statements in order, as they are needed to quickly settle business interruption claims or to obtain a loan. She also recommends businesses develop a relationship with a local restoration company well in advance of any disasters.

For more information regarding Three Brothers Bakery, Harvey recovery progress and business continuity plans please contact Amy Verbout at 713-225-0880 or amy(at)integrateagency(dot)com.

About Three Brothers Bakery
The traditions of Three Brothers Bakery began in Chrzanow, Poland circa 1825, and were preserved despite the family's concentration camp imprisonment during the Holocaust. Their miraculous liberation, and subsequent move to Houston, brought Eastern European scratch baking traditions to 4036 S. Braeswood Blvd, 12393 Kingsride Lane, and 4606 Washington Ave where the owners are now proud to call themselves "memory makers who just happen to be bakers." Perfecting the process for almost 200 years, each day the fifth generation bakers produce mostly dairy-free breads and pastries, cookies, a full line of specialty dessert cakes and pies, as well as custom birthday, special occasion, wedding and groom's cakes using only the highest quality ingredients.

The Three Brothers Bakery pecan pie was named "the best mail order pecan pie America has to offer" by Country Living magazine in 2016, bakery owner, Bobby Jucker competed in the popular 'Food Network Challenge' and has been seen on Food Network's Outrageous Food. Three Brothers won "Best Mail-Order Pies 2012" from Bon Appetit, as well as Modern Baking's "2013 Retail Bakery of the Year" and was part of The Knot's "2010-2013 Best of Weddings" and "Hall of Fame" picks. In 2013, the bakery wont the Jeffrey Butland Family-Owned Business of the Year by the Houston division of the U.S. Small Business Administration. Most recently, Three Brothers Bakery was named one of "America's 20 Best Bakeries" by The Daily Meal in 2016 and in 2018, the bakery's Pumpecapple Pie Cake was featured on BuzzFeed's 'Worth It' web series. Brothers Bakery is a certified Woman-Owned Business through the Women's Business Enterprise National Council, and a State of Texas Historically Underutilized Business. In 2018, Three Brothers Bakery received the SBA Phoenix Award for Small Business Disaster Recovery.

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SOURCE Three Brothers Bakery Inc