An annual survey of the outlook of business owners and managers in northern Nevada again is under way.
This year's survey pays greater attention to workforce development issues and business travel than previous editions, said Valerie Glenn, the chairman, president and chief executive of Rose/Glenn Group.
Her advertising agency joins with Reno-based InfoSearch International to conduct the survey. Members of the Economic Development Authority of Western Nevada, the Reno-Sparks Chamber of Commerce and Western Industrial Nevada participate.
Results will be revealed at the annual Directions 2007 event on Feb. 6.
This year's survey, Glenn said, asks more questions about how employers are recruiting workers during a tight job market and also asks more questions about the skills and training of the workforce.
A second area of greater emphasis, she said, is business travel. The Reno-Tahoe Airport Authority requested that data to help its efforts to increase air service to the area.
The survey for the first time also includes the opportunity for participants to comment.
To keep the survey from growing unwieldy, organizers trimmed detailed questions about expansion projects that were included in earlier years. Much of that data, Glenn said, is collected by EDAWN's Business Builders program, which regularly surveys employers.
Despite the changes, a series of basic questions about the confidence of businesspeople in the region's economic future has remained unchanged since the survey was introduced in 2004.
Sara Hart, director of research at InfoSearch International, said, "Our goal is to keep the survey interesting and relevant as well as being able to trend over time."
The survey, said Hart, was e-mailed to 2,268 business leaders in the region. It began Nov. 9 and responses will be collected through Dec. 12.
