CABA is very excited to announce our summer campaign, Businesses Acting on Rising Seas (BARS)! For the next eight weeks, our team will educate local businesses across the state about the impacts of rising sea levels. CABA’s enthusiastic summer interns are spearheading the campaign, which formally starts on Monday, June 13. In all, the BARS team consists of six young professionals, many of whom are still in colleges throughout the country, including UMASS Amherst, Connecticut College, URI, Boston College, UCLA, and George Washington University.

Our teams will be dispatched into the field to engage into face-to-face conversations with business owners and managers. The education piece of BARS is crucial to sustaining economic vitality and business continuity in the region with the threats of climate change looming. Our summer interns will be handing out free resiliency guides which outline an eight-step approach to decrease the risk of going out of business due to the consequences of climate change.

Initially, our staff will be campaigning in the Boston metro area, but will also reach out to neighboring towns such as Winthrop, Revere, Quincy, Newburyport, Gloucester, New Bedford, and Provincetown as the summer progresses.

We are aiming to prevent the loss of local business and support a secure economy for the state in the event of a natural disaster. Although this may seem like a far off scenario, Boston could potentially see a storm with flooding of about 7.5 feet within the next 6 years. As a result, we want to better prepare businesses for sea level rise and ensure that they have a plan.

With this campaign, we can build a better understanding of climate resilience and a sense of community in the city of Boston and along the coast of Massachusetts. To follow the BARS team throughout the summer, follow us on Twitter, like us on Facebook, and read our weekly blog! If you are interested in joining our campaign right now, email our Sustainability Coordinator Polina at polina.malozemova@cabaus.org.

Look out for us in your neighborhood this summer!