#Middlebury #BusinessSurvey #SWOTAnalysis
By MARJORIE NEEDHAM
Middlebury Economic Development Commission Chairman Terry McAuliffe said surveys are being sent via email and postal mail to 485 Middlebury businesses as the EDC conducts its second survey of local businesses. The first was in 2017.
McAuliffe said, “We were so happy about the responses we got in 2017, we wanted to do it again now that five years have passed.” He said the survey helps let business owners know the community cares about them. It also will help the EDC see what may have changed over the past five years. Surveys should be received by Friday, August 5.
McAuliffe said state statute 7-136 says the EDC “shall conduct research into the economic conditions and trends in its municipality, shall make recommendations to appropriate officials and agencies of its municipality regarding action to improve its economic condition and development, shall seek to coordinate the activities of and cooperate with unofficial bodies organized to promote such economic development and may advertise and may prepare, print and distribute books, maps, charts and pamphlets which in its judgment will further its official purposes.”
After its initial 2017 survey, the EDC prepared a 24-page report on the survey results. That survey is available on the EDC page at Middlebury-ct.org.
The EDC presented the survey results to the Board of Selectmen, the Board of Finance and the Planning and Zoning Commission. Bolstered by the survey results, the EDC finished its work on the town’s “Commercial Development Guide,” also available on the EDC page on the town website.
In response to the recommendations businesses sent in, the EDC worked with the Planning and Zoning Commission on signage business owners suggested. The town was separated into defined districts with signage regulations appropriate to each district. It also worked with P&Z to provide input on new ordinances for the revision and updating of zoning regulations still under way.
The same will be done for the 2022 survey. Results will be compiled and presented in a report, that will include a list of recommended actions. The EDC will then share the report with other boards and commissions and do what it can to support the recommended actions.
McAuliffe said the survey will ask 15 questions to rate the business climate and how Middlebury measures up to expectations. It also will have six open ended questions so business owners can say in their own words what is good, bad, positive, and negative about doing business here. They can say what Middlebury desperately needs, and what Middlebury needs to avoid.
The survey will be helpful in performing what is called a “SWOT Analysis” of Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats. The SWOT analysis helps answer the question, “Where are we now?” by using the relevant data from the survey and background information to help identify the critical internal and external factors that speak to the town’s unique assets and competitive positioning. Connecticut State Statute Section 7-136 obligates Economic Development Commissions to perform such research and make recommendations to appropriate officials and agencies.
SWOT analysis elements are commonly understood in the following terms:
- Strengths are a town’s relative competitive advantages (e.g., upscale reputation, physical beauty, industry supply chains and clusters, transportation and broadband assets, specialized workforce skills, higher education levels, collaboration among stakeholders, “can do” attitude) and often are intrinsic in nature.
- Weaknesses are a town’s relative competitive disadvantages (e.g., a risk-averse or change-resistant or business-averse culture, critical mass of residential shoppers), also often intrinsic in nature.
- Opportunities are chances or occasions for business improvement or progress (e.g., expansion of a business campus or medical campus in the town), and “out of the box” entrepreneurial creativity.
- Threats are chances or occasions for negative impacts or regional decline (e.g., companies in the state considering moving to lower-cost areas, land use issues, housing costs) and often are external in nature and related to the broader economy.
The survey will be emailed to businesses registered with the Secretary of the State using contact information from the Business Registry. Businesses not found in that database will be sent a survey by postal mail to the address listed in the Middlebury Assessor’s Database. Those who have not received a survey by the second week of August should visit the Economic Development section of the town website, Middlebury-ct.org, and take the survey there. The survey cutoff is August 31 and results will be published by September 15. Questions about the survey can be sent to EDC@middlebury-ct.org.
