BUSINESS COMMUNITY HAPPIER WITH CITY’S ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT EFFORTS, SAYS CHAMBER SURVEY.

Summerside, Wednesday December 7, 2016:  Summerside’s business community has given 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 on an identical number of areas critical to business development for 2 years.    It has just released the results and presented the year-over-year trends to City Council.

“Our purpose in doing this was to facilitate communications between the City and the business community, “Dan 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.”

Leading the more positive economic development scores was an increased ability for respondents to be able to name at least one City initiatives which have increased our tax base or attracted new investments to the City.  That average score jumped from 2.3 to 3.3

Overall scores in the Business Environment section were down slightly across the board.  Compared to their responses a  year ago, respondents fell that Council was less accessible, less open to sharing information and less sensitive to the needs of business when scheduling road work.

The City’s 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.  About 15% of the Chamber’s membership participated in both surveys.

 

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