The City of Airdrie has tweaked its annual business survey this year, to better gauge the needs of its residents with the help of a Canadian consulting company, MDB Insight.
According to Tara Levick, economic development officer with the City, in the past, the municipality’s business survey has aimed to determine business satisfaction. This time around, they are hoping to be proactive about addressing the needs of local business owners.
“We are a department that really tries to build a positive business economy here – a community for like-minded business owners and entrepreneurs to really thrive within our community,” Levick said.
She added the economic development team has re-evaluated its previous surveys considering the many changes business owners have endured over the last few years, including the COVID-19 pandemic, global events, and supply chain issues.
“We really thought it would be better to take the survey and really massage it into something that is more of a pulse check,” she said, adding this year’s survey will seek to understand how business owners are faring and what their outlook is. “[To] really just see how they’re doing in an almost post-COVID world.”
Levick said the survey was sent out last week via email to all licensed Airdrie-based businesses, including home-based and storefront business owners who hold a valid City of Airdrie license.
She added if business owners did not receive the survey and would like to participate, they are encouraged to reach out to the City directly.
“We really take the survey results seriously,” she said. “We are hoping that business owners take the time to fill it out, to tell us how they’re doing and what they think they potentially need or want from the City.
“Without that information, it’s really hard for us to plan or understand what we should be bringing here.”
According to Levick, all survey responses are kept confidential, with an option for business owners to provide permission to share individual responses.
“That is something they must opt in to – all survey results are confidential and will be aggregated to get that snapshot of how businesses are doing,” she said. “We’re really looking to try to understand the top issues facing businesses in the city of Airdrie.”
She said the City is looking to determine how the pandemic has affected businesses, what their business outlook is for the next two years, and what steps are being taken to adjust to a changing business landscape.
“[We’re] just trying to get that pulse check on how they’re doing and what the outlook of their business looks like, and then as well their satisfaction levels of doing business in Airdrie,” she said. “[MDB Insight] – they do a lot of analysis and projections for us, so we’re excited to take those results.
“It really helps us plan and understand what our businesses are looking for.”
