The Stafford Department of Economic Development will begin its third biennial business survey this week, and staff plans to use the results to improve its services to local businesses.

“This is our way of ‘taking the temperature’ of our business community,” said Deputy County Administrator and Economic Development Director Tim Baroody. “We have more than 2,100 businesses in Stafford that provide jobs to 34,832 individuals. We need to find out whether our programs are helping them succeed and what their ideas are for improvements so that we can continue to help our businesses – and job opportunities for our residents – grow.”

Stafford conducted the first business survey in March 2004 with 74 percent of businesses giving Stafford a favorable rating in terms of starting, relocating, or expanding a business. When the survey was conducted in 2006, 79 percent gave Stafford a favorable rating in terms of their satisfaction in starting, relocating or expanding a business.

The survey is being sent to all businesses in Stafford this week. It is also available on Economic Development’s Web site at www.GoStaffordVa.com.

The survey is conducted with the assistance of University of Mary Washington’s College of Graduate and Professional Studies. The purpose of the survey is to evaluate how well Stafford County and the Department of Economic Development is serving its local businesses, and to provide a forum for new ideas and suggestions that will improve business services. The survey consists of five Likert-scaled questions that ask respondents to rate the level of various services from very dissatisfied to very satisfied. Also included are several other questions about whether the County’s investment in tourism has had an impact on the business.

The deadline for businesses to respond to the survey is March 15. Economic Development staff will work with the University of Mary Washington to compile the results. The Executive Summary of the survey will be available online by mid-May on the Department of Economic Development’s Web site at www.GoStaffordVa.com. For more information, please contact the department at (540) 658-8681.

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