A new report is gauging how local business feels about the current state of the economy locally. Thunder Bay Ventures is behind the study that asked local businesses about their top concerns and what possible solutions there could be to them. CEO Martin Wyant tells us they heard from businesses there’s a need to keep neighbourhoods clean and safe. “There were a number of concerns expressed about the state of neighbourhoods and a number of comments about people soliciting for money and a number of other items.”
Businesses were also concerned by the escalating costs they face and not being able to hire enough qualified employees. The survey also suggests that businesses would like a concerted effort to spread the good news about what is taking place in Thunder Bay to offset the recent ongoing negative press.
Wyant adds, “one of the areas of leadership that people were wanting to see was better leadership from our municipality and I’m not sure what that quite means just yet. I think we will have to dig a little deeper to come up with more solutions.” The findings will be used by Thunder Bay Ventures to shape their plans for the future and the programs they offer.
The survey was completed by 183 leaders of local businesses and the majority of respondents have between 1 and 49 employees.
