BUSINESS COMMUNITY HAPPIER WITH CITY’S ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT EFFORTS, SAYS CHAMBER SURVEY, BUT THERE IS STILL MORE WORK TO DO.
Summerside, Wednesday December 7, 2016: Summerside’s business community has given a positive report to the City of Summerside’s economic development efforts, says Dan Kutcher, President of the Summerside Chamber of Commerce.
The Chamber surveyed its members with identical questions in 2015 and again this year. It has just presented the year-over-year trends to City Council and released the results which show economic development ratings rising.
Leading the more positive economic development scores was an increased ability for respondents to be able to name at least one City initiative which has increased our tax base or attracted new investments to the City. That score jumped from 2.3 to 3.3.
“Our purpose in doing this was to facilitate communications between the City and the business community, “ Kutcher said. “If the City appears to be approaching an issue in a way our community agrees with, we want to ensure the City knows that. Conversely, if business thinks the City is not performing as it should be, the City should be aware of that too.”
Scores in the Business Environment section were down slightly across the board. Compared to responses a year ago, respondents felt that Council was less accessible, less open to sharing information and less sensitive to the needs of business when scheduling road work.
Stewardship of our tax dollars were also perceived less positively in 2016. Budget management and debt management all received lower rankings. Responses to queries about an understanding of the City’s vision were also down slightly.
Chamber members completed the survey in the fall of 2015 and 2016.
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