Get Full Government Meeting Transcripts, Videos, & Alerts Forever!
Get email alerts on the Business Survey topic
No spam. Unsubscribe anytime.
Task force approves 2025 business survey, aims to reach roughly 2,000 firms
Summary
The Economic Development Task Force approved a revised 2025 business survey to gather industry, employment, revenue and location data; staff will distribute the questionnaire to an estimated 2,000 business‑tax‑receipt records and may partner with the Chamber to boost responses.
The Economic Development Task Force voted Dec. 17 to approve a revised 2025 business survey intended to collect standardized industry, employee‑count and revenue data the city can share with county partners.
Miss Hartman, who presented the packet materials and the survey draft, said the questionnaire aligns industry categories with the county and state so responses can be compared across jurisdictions. "These industry categories match what the county gets from the state," she said, noting the instrument asks about employees, primary revenue channel, business lifecycle stage and whether businesses operate multiple locations.
Board members flagged and corrected a numeric typo in a sales band and suggested minor wording changes. A member raised the idea of offering a small incentive to increase completion rates; Miss Hartman said the Chamber could potentially sponsor a prize but the city cannot directly provide giveaways. "The chamber could sponsor that," she said, when members discussed a $100 meal drawing to encourage responses.
Miss Hartman told the task force she pulled the business‑tax‑receipt and certificate‑of‑occupancy lists from building records and estimated the cleaned distribution list will include about 2,000 entries. The packet also proposes conditional follow‑up questions for respondents who select "workforce," so the city can identify whether shortages, training or dependent‑care challenges are most acute and pursue targeted training partnerships.
The motion to approve the survey carried at the meeting. The transcript does not record a clear mover/second; members indicated assent during roll call and the body approved the item by voice. Next steps discussed included publishing the survey on the city page, offering an opt‑in for notification of follow‑up business visits and coordinating possible Chamber outreach to increase response rates.
