{"id":14794,"date":"2016-05-18T09:30:01","date_gmt":"2016-05-18T13:30:01","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/chescotimes.com\/?p=14794"},"modified":"2016-05-18T09:29:26","modified_gmt":"2016-05-18T13:29:26","slug":"survey-business-owners-bullish-on-chesco-economy","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/chescotimes.com\/?p=14794","title":{"rendered":"Survey: Business owners bullish on Chesco economy"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"ScreenWEST CHESTER \u2014 It appears that small business in Chester County is pretty bullish on the economic future of the county, based on a new survey released Tuesday by the county commissioners and a county economic development group.<\/span><\/p>\n

The Chester County Board of Commissioners and the<\/span> Chester County Economic Development Council (CCEDC), announced at Tuesday\u2019s Commissioners\u2019 Sunshine Meeting, the results of a comprehensive business survey entitled \u201cTake the Pulse.\u201d\u00a0 The survey, developed in partnership with the county\u2019s 10 chambers of commerce, is a key component of VISTA 2025, Chester County\u2019s ten-year economic development strategy designed to maintain the economic health of the county by striking a balance between progress and preservation.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cThe Take the Pulse survey results have revealed the top opportunities and challenges that Chester County business owners are facing as we continue to bounce back from the nationwide recession,\u201d said Chester County Commissioners\u2019 Chair Terence Farrell. \u201cThe results give us valuable guidance on where to focus our energy as we work to ensure the future health of Chester County\u2019s economy.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0As they say in the real estate business, “location, location, location” \u2014 and the survey suggests that Chester County’s quality of life\u00a0plays a big role in the positive attitude of local business owners.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cTake the Pulse survey results further validated one of the primary themes contained in the VISTA 2025 strategy \u2013 quality of place is paramount to the people of Chester County and critical to our continued ability to attract talent and businesses,\u201d said CCEDC President & CEO Gary W. Smith.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

More than 400 individuals responded to the online, 20-question survey that was open to all businesses and designed to assess the business climate in Chester County. Key results from the Take the Pulse survey include:<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u2022\u00a0<\/span>More than 94 percent of respondents expect to see increased revenues in the next 12 months.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u2022\u00a0<\/span>Approximately 90 percent of respondents believe the business climate in Chester County is \u201cstable\u201d or \u201cimproving.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

\u2022\u00a0<\/span>Most companies in Chester County are here because they were \u201cstarted here\u201d or because \u201cthe principal lives here.\u201d\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u2022\u00a0<\/span>Survey respondents are highly optimistic about the future business climate in Chester County. More than eight in ten (82 percent) of business owners expect to maintain or grow their business over the next year.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u2022\u00a0<\/span>The overall \u201cquality of place\u201d in Chester County was rated as excellent in terms of its positive effect on the county as a place to do business. Community safety, community events and activities, recreational opportunities, community attitudes and quality of educational system were also rated as the most positive.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u2022\u00a0<\/span>The majority of survey respondents have a long-standing presence in Chester County, with nearly half (49 percent) operating in Chester County for 20 years or more.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u2022\u00a0<\/span>While survey respondents are optimistic for the future, managing \u201cnew business growth\u201d was most often cited as the primary challenge facing their businesses, followed by the ability to attract and retain a \u201cqualified workforce.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

\u2022 The items rated as having the most negative effect were \u201cpublic transportation\u201d and \u201ctraffic congestion.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

And while the opinions are nice, county leaders plan to use the information gleaned as a tool for future planning.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe data gathered will help influence the course of Chester County\u2019s economic well-being over the next decade,”Commissioner Kathi Cozzone said. “These survey results, combined with the feedback we receive through our urban center forums, our workforce and education summit and workshops, and the work of our goal teams continue to provide valuable insight for our future economy.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

Still, officials note, it is gratifying to learn the value local business owners place on the quality of life the county offers.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cIt is reassuring to find that Chester County business owners really value the quality of place that Chester County offers, and it\u2019s not surprising to see that public transportation and traffic congestion have the most negative effect on businesses,” said Commissioner Michelle Kichline, who also co-chairs the VISTA 2025 initiative. “We will continue to identify the top transportation improvements that support economic development, and are working on ways to improve additional modes of transportation including rail, bike and pedestrian infrastructure.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

WEST CHESTER \u2014 It appears that small business in Chester County is pretty bullish on the economic future of the county, based on a new survey released Tuesday by the county commissioners and a county economic development group. The Chester County Board of Commissioners and the Chester County Economic Development Council (CCEDC), announced at Tuesday\u2019s […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":14796,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[9,7],"tags":[3980,138,1655,2502,7390,6269],"class_list":["post-14794","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-news","category-featured","tag-business-2","tag-chester-county","tag-chester-county-economic-development-council","tag-commissioners","tag-economy","tag-featured"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/chescotimes.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/14794","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/chescotimes.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/chescotimes.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/chescotimes.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/chescotimes.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=14794"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/chescotimes.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/14794\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":14795,"href":"https:\/\/chescotimes.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/14794\/revisions\/14795"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/chescotimes.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/14796"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/chescotimes.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=14794"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/chescotimes.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=14794"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/chescotimes.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=14794"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}