The Asheville Chamber of Commerce partnered with Western Carolina University’s Center for Entrepreneurship and Innovation to conduct a survey to find out how Buncombe County ranks in terms of business friendliness. The results of the survey will be used by the Asheville Chamber of Commerce to provide policymakers and researchers with valuable information on how businesses feel about their state and local governments. The aim is to learn what creates a healthy, vibrant local business environment by asking the owner-operators of small businesses themselves about these issues.
The Asheville Chamber of Commerce partnered with Western Carolina University’s Center for Entrepreneurship and Innovation to conduct a survey to find out how Buncombe County ranks in terms of business friendliness. The results of the survey will be used by the Asheville Chamber of Commerce to provide policymakers and researchers with valuable information on how businesses feel about their state and local governments. The aim is to learn what creates a healthy, vibrant local business environment by asking the owner-operators of small businesses themselves about these issues.
The survey modeled the one conducted annually by Thumbtack.com but focused solely on Buncombe County business owners. The results were compared to the data collected from the 2014 Thumbtack.com survey.
The 2014 Thumbtack.com survey graded 38 states and 82 metropolitan regions based on how business owners and operators felt about the city and states where they live. Asheville ranked as one of the lowest metro areas in North Carolina. Out of 13,000 total responses, only a handful of responses pertained to the Asheville area. Because of this incredibly small sample size, the Asheville Chamber of Commerce wanted to get a more representative distribution of the population.
Survey Highlights:
Asheville's overall friendliness was rated B, higher than the state average of C+
Training & Networking opportunities were a a bright spot for the community scoring A.
Areas for improvement include Health & Safety Regulations, Employment, Labor & Hiring Regulations and Tax Code and Tax Related Regulation.
When asked if you would discourage or encourage someone from starting a new business where you live, over half responded that they would highly encourage or somewhat encourage someone to start a new business in Buncombe County.
However, when asked if it is difficult or easy to start a new business in Buncombe County, 45 percent said it is somewhat difficult or very difficult.
Thinking specifically about the economy, respondents answered that the top three issues that should be the priority of the community’s government are unemployment, the housing market, and budget deficit/spending.
One respondent commented: "Asheville has a vibrant small business community with a wide variety of support systems, programs and networking events for business owners and staff to participate in."
Another said: "Asheville has grown from a small mountain tourist and arts town into a nationally-recognized city of opportunity. Entrepreneurs are the engine driving our growth. Small business leaders need more targeted training programs, better media coverage and access to more capital to grow and thrive."
Business Friendliness Survey: Methodology and Analysis
Media Contact: 828-258-6131; editor@ashevillechamber.org