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KITTITAS COUNTY ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT GROUP <br />Economic Development Strategic Plan -Release 1.0 <br />1.7 Maintain an inventory of existing businesses and available properties. Publicly <br />available business records, such as DBA filings, tax records, utility hookups, and <br />ownership transfers, can be good sources of information. This inventory should be <br />recorded and maintained in an electronic database or a Customer Relationship <br />Management (CRM) System. <br />1.8 Administer a regularly scheduled survey of employers. This survey will identify <br />which companies may be at risk of leaving the community and which companies plan <br />to expand. In addition, these surveys can uncover employers' Issues. If possible, the <br />survey should be administered annually. The use of online survey tools, such as <br />Survey Monkey (www.surveyrnonkey.com), Zoomerang (www.zoomeranq.com), <br />SurveyGizmo (www.surveygizmo.com), and Poll Daddy (www.polldaddy.com) make <br />this an inexpensive method for keeping in touch with area employers. <br />1.9 Conduct business visitations. To supplement findings from the survey, the EDG <br />should visit at least 20 businesses per year. The purpose of the visits should be to <br />gauge the ability and needs of local businesses to operate successfully and possibly <br />expand in the community. These visits can be conducted by EDG staff or with the <br />support of interested board members. A set procedure should be established for <br />these visits to ensure that consistent information is gathered. <br />1.10 Create a forum. Provide opportunities for local businesses to meet regularly with <br />economic and community development staff. The purpose of these meetings is <br />similar to that of the employer survey, but the face-to-face approach often stimulates <br />discussion that a survey cannot. This could be accomplished by holding a quarterty <br />business forum or industry roundtables. Forums could be organized around a specifIC <br />topic of interest (such as planning and zoning issues or transportation infrastructure) <br />or could be used as a moderated discussion about general concerns. These <br />meetings do not need to be elaborate. Local restaurants will often donate meeting <br />space In return for the lunch or dinner traffic. The goal is simply to keep an open line <br />of communication between employers and public officials. <br />@ TIP STRATEGIES Theory Into Practice <br />1: BASELINE ACTIVITIES <br />Page 9