Economic Vitality Committee Agenda and Packet 2022 06 17

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SUBJECT: BUSINESS SATISFACTION SURVEY RESULTS DATE: JUNE 17, 2022 PAGE 3 OF 5 but 25.40% also indicated they were "Dissatisfied" with this factor. In addition to service ratings, respondents provided feedback on items that influence their perception of the City. Respondents said that the City was "Above Average" in the areas of "Overall feeling of safety in City" (64.41 %), "Overall image of City" (38.98%), and "Availability of customer parking" (29.82%). Respondents felt the City was "Below Average" in the areas of "Quality of new development" (25.42%), "Availability of customer parking" (22.81 %), and "City support for local businesses" (22.03%). Since "Availability of Customer Parking" was ranked both high and low, it is likely the perception of this factor is heavily influenced by the business location. The next few survey questions asked respondents to give feedback on their current business and near -term plans. The majority of respondents, 41.27% (26), said that they are considering "Increasing workforce" in the next 12 months. 31.75% of businesses (20) said they are considering "Relocating outside of Louisville." The majority of businesses seem to be recovering from the pandemic, as 42.86% (27), said they have increasing company sales. 38.10% (24) also said their company sales are stable. Also looking at the next 12 months, most businesses (34.38%, 22) said they are projecting "Stable demand." 32.81 % (21) businesses also said they expect "Continued increasing demand." Current Trends & Issues Survey Question Responses This section of the survey touches on current issues and therefore questions may not reappear in future surveys for trend analysis over time. The City previously conducted two business surveys on COVID-19 impacts to the community. The majority of respondents to this survey, 42.62% (26), said they anticipate "Some negative impact" from the pandemic to continue for their business in 2022. However, 36.07% of respondents (22), said they anticipate "little or no impact" for the remainder of this year. Respondents were fairly split in their assessment of the City's overall reaction and policies to the COVID-19 reopening/recovery process. The majority (30%, 18) said the City's reaction was "Very useful," but 23.33% of respondents (14), also said the City's reaction was "Not at all useful." Staff also wished to understand what plans employers have for remote work to continue in the future. The number of employees present in Louisville on a day-to-day basis has a large impact on some business types, such as restaurant and retailers that depend on not just the local residential population, but also workers and visitors in the community. 62.30% of respondents (38) said that remote work is not currently permitted for their Louisville -based workforce. Only 4 responding businesses said that all staff are allowed to work remotely. This question is highly dependent on the type of business responding. For those that said they still had workforce remote, they were additionally asked to provide the percentage of employees that would be working remotely by the end of 2022. The specific responses to the question are available in the qualitative report (#16), but the average response from 60 businesses was 13%. Agenda Packet P. 9