Discussions

Results of the Chamber's annual business survey are in. I've linked the complete results below.  
 
A few talking points..  
 
- despite a lot of the press we're hearing about the economy, 89% answered that they either expect no change or an increase in their business' performance financially this year. This, however, is down from 95% last year.  
- 55% of those surveyed believe that those applying for employment in Brandon are inadequately trained. This number was the same last year, but only 37% in 2007.  
- Expanding on above, more specifically it was said that experience (15%), education (13%) and work ethic (12%) and work environment general skills (12%) were the most lacking areas  
- Respondants were fairly split (48% Yes, 46% no) on whether Renaissance Brandon is doing a good job of promoting downtown...but 70% support the use of city funds to support downtown revitalization.  
- One that really stood out to me. The statement was.. "Compared to a year ago, I feel better about Brandon's overall image." Last year, 78% agreed. This year just 48% agreed.  
- The next statement.. "I believe Brandon has a clear vision of where it wants to go." Last year, 46% agreed. This year just 23% agreed.  
- 83% answered that they would like to see Brandon's population grow to either 50,000 or 75,000 within ten years (approx 20%+ growth)  
 
In terms of some of the closing statements:  
- the Chamber suggests that businesses expect to invest more in training and development than they may have need to in the past  
- City needs to provide and effectively communicate vision for future growth  
- Be mindful of new economic reality when consider future tax increases  
 
Please have a peak at the whole survey & suggested next steps here:  
http://www.brandonchamber.ca/files/Climate%20Survey%20Jan%202009.pdf