The 30,000–square-foot warehouse of Kannoa (Miami, Florida), a contemporary outdoor-furnishings designer and manufacturer, burned to the ground on March 5—but the business was up and running quickly, thanks to its hard-working staff. As Philip Boulton, COO and cofounder of Kannoa, tells a local news outlet, “Thank God everyone is well. Nobody was harmed, the loss is only material, and we are just concentrating on reorganizing to start fulfilling orders right now.” The company, founded by two Venezuelan entrepreneurs in 2006, currently employs 28 people in the Miami area.

Kannoa has activated its contingency plan and has already set up a new office location to continue operations. In addition, all manufacturing and inbound shipments have been expedited to minimize any impact on the supply chain. The fire broke out just before 8 a.m., before most employees had arrived for work. No injuries were reported after nearly 200 firefighters worked for several hours to contain the huge blaze, which destroyed the building. The cause of the fire remains unknown.

Boulton says, “Our business is like a family, so our team worked to get Kannoa set up at a temporary office and warehouse in a nearby location,” adding that the business was fully operational within a week. “Even though the entire inventory stored in that warehouse was totally destroyed, we have a considerable amount of product in transit, which allowed us to get back in business right away,” he says.

Because all relevant data had been backed up electronically, retrieving records associated with the business was not a problem. Deliveries set up for March and April were delayed, but manufacturing orders were unaffected.