Is Sault Ste. Marie open for business?
Prompted by the Sault Star's coverage last year of Martin Frost's decision to move Soo Salvage and Recycling out of town, City Council asked the Chamber of Commerce to prepare a report on the issue.
At last night's Council meeting, Chamber President Don Mitchell presented that report, including results from a comprehensive membership survey.
As SooToday.com reported last night, the survey revealed that City Hall services are perceived within the business community as "adequate," prompting Mitchell to tell councillors that there's room for improvement.
The Chamber survey covered a lot of ground and we thought some SooToday.com readers might appreciate an opportunity to read the full written report that Mitchell prepared for City Councillors:
*************************** Open for Business
Presented by: Don Mitchell, Chamber of Commerce President 2004/06, February 9, 2004
On December 8th, 2003 Council passed a resolution seeking comment from the Chamber regarding "cooperation given to businesses from City Hall."
In response, the Chamber's Communications and Public Relations committee worked very hard to develop an unbiased survey to garner the views of our membership on this issue.
I must emphasize we were not looking to elicit a specific response but to rather collect constructive data that council could analyze and apply where appropriate.
The survey was directly mailed to all Chamber members and an online response option provided.
A follow-up reminder was sent by email one week later encouraging any member who had not yet responded to do so.
Members were provided assurance that any and all specific comments would remain confidential and only a summary report would be provided for public consumption.
Approximately 5 percent of our members responded.
By industry standards this is a fair response rate for direct mail and will serve as a representative sampling.
Members with specific tales of woe or words of praise regarding their business dealings with City Hall were invited to contact general manager Gene Nori to relay their experience in confidence.
No such calls were received.
The fact that there was not a flood of response from the membership indicates the level of concern throughout the business community regarding this issue may not be as great as Council and the media might think.
Despite the assurance offered by the Chamber to hold all member responses in strict confidence, it has been indicated that some business owners were still apprehensive to voice their concerns for fear of repercussions.
Attached is a breakdown of the hard data for your consumption at a later date.
We use percentages only for the purposes of confidentiality.
It is our finding that the overriding message in the results is that the business community finds the level of service provided by City Hall to be adequate - not poor, nor exceptional - adequate.
According to Webster adequate is defined as "barely sufficient or satisfactory."
When you factor in human nature and our propensity to be passive complainers, results indicate there is definite opportunity for improvement; rarely is there not.
The first section of the survey was specific to businesses that started up or relocated to the Sault within the past five years.
There is some question as to whether in fact Chamber member businesses that have chosen to operate in Sault Ste. Marie are truly the proper survey pool.
Those disenfranchised with the level of service offered by City Hall may very well have chosen to set up shop elsewhere.
Their views naturally, are not reflected in these survey results.
As a result, the survey pool is somewhat skewed in this regard.
The second half of the survey encompassing all segments of the business community asks the specific question, on a scale of 1 to 5, one being definitely and five being not at all, how "Open for Business" is Sault Ste. Marie.
Now this is a perception question. It calls for the readers to define for themselves "Open for Business."
The fact that the result was nearly evenly split, with a slight inclination toward the lower end indicates indecision either with the definition or with the degree of "openness."
One member offered as means of explanation, this comment:
"I believe City Council is definitely open for business. However, I don't believe that council's desires have been adequately impressed upon city staff and management. I think "open for business" at council level and at staff level are two different issues."
Now, our members are not ones to offer criticism without constructive suggestions for improvement. I quote:
"As I have said before, part of the problem is coordination between different departments and service providers. A business coordinator position should be created to walk the business person through everything - get all approvals, permits, etc."
It seems from the general message of many of the other comments provided, the level of service from a "technical" perspective is adequate.
The concern appears to be with the attitudinal approach - the desire to go above and beyond, to take ownership of the problem, to seek out solutions rather than simply lay out the rules.
As the member suggests, take their hand and lead them through the process and jump the hurdles with them. I quote:
"Without cooperation from building and planning the other areas don't really matter. Business owners are real people who invest real money. We require timely, positive decisions and not the attitude that exists there now."
The perception of not being open for business has been a problem in this community for years.
As with any business or organization we must all strive for service excellence.
We now have a benchmark to work from.
The Chamber advocates for a positive approach to change.
We commend council for taking a leadership role on this issue.
To read the actual numerical results from the Chamber survey, please here.