VISION 2000 SURVEYS CITY'S STRENGTHS, WEAKNESSES FOR NEW, OLD BUSINESSES

Cape Girardeau businesses are going to be asked to assess the city's strengths and weaknesses in Vision 2000's second business needs survey.

John Mehner, a member of the planning committee, said actually two surveys will be done. The first, questioning existing businesses or those in existence for more than five years, should be completed by October. The second, for new or relocating businesses, should be completed by the end of the year.

Mehner said, "The plan is for the first survey to be sent out sometime in September. It will go to in the neighborhood of 1,200 to 1,500 businesses. We would look for responses by the month of October and hope to have results by the end of October."

He said the second survey will commence when the first ends.

"The surveys are part of the Vision 2000 strategic plan," said Mehner. "The idea is to continually assess and address the needs of the business community."

The plan calls for business needs surveys to be completed every two years. The first survey was done in 1990.

"The only change we have this time is an optional line for them to put the actual name of their business," Mehner said. "We made it optional because the survey relies heavily on a comment section. If people don't feel comfortable making comments and identifying themselves, they don't have to. If they identify themselves, we can directly respond those people both in areas of strengths or weaknesses."

Mehner said information generated from the 1990 survey was used.

"Probably the best example," Mehner said, "was that in both those surveys we got responses from business people that when they're in business they don't know where to go for information or how to latch hold of services that are out there."

Vision 2000 helped develop a new business package disseminated through the Chamber of Commerce, the city and Southeast Missouri State University's Business Development Center. The information is available to new or existing business owners.

"It's almost like at Welcome Wagon for businesses," Mehner said. "It's a real good outline of where information and services are available. That has received a tremendous response and people have been using it."

He said the idea for the surveys is to assess where the strengths and weaknesses are in the city in terms of its business climate.

"Obviously we want to see where we're going. Hopefully we will have corrected some of the perceived weaknesses last time. We will have to wait and see what the new issue are."