(rdnewsNOW file photo)

By Josh Hall (Twitter: @Vancan19)

130 respondents

Chamber of Commerce unveils results of Business Priorities Survey

Oct 22, 2021 | 2:10 PM

The Red Deer & District Chamber of Commerce has released the results of its Municipal Priorities Survey.

The survey was distributed to 1,600 business owners, managers and employees asking their thoughts and priorities for the recent municipal election.

The Chamber received 130 responses during the time the survey was open, Aug. 23-Sept. 3.

“These results clearly verify what we have been hearing from our membership for many years,” says Rick More, Chamber CEO. “There is serious work to be done within Red Deer City Hall to ensure people feel comfortable and safe in our community and we need to work harder to attract new people and businesses to our city.”

Results showed that respondents overwhelmingly believe crime, social disorder and community safety should be council’s top priorities.

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Those were followed by economic development and proactively seeking new investment and people to the city.

-49% thought the City of Red Deer provides “intermediate value” for tax dollars spent with just 16% thinking there is “good value”

-71% said they would support the city spending more for economic development even if it meant an increase to taxes

-53% would support more spending on police

-77% said they would support the utilization of tax incentives to attract businesses to Red Deer

Adds More: “We hope the new council takes these results to heart and places a strong focus on sustainably resolving these issues and we look forward to working with them to achieve these goals.”