POTTSTOWN PA – Greater Pottstown area consumers have had a say. Now area business owners are being asked for their opinions too.

A consultant for the Pottstown Metropolitan Regional Planning Committee, of which Lower Pottsgrove (PA) Township is a member, has already asked shoppers about what motivates them to buy from local merchants. It is turning to merchants themselves to inquire, “what do you need to grow your operations?”

A survey intended to help Pottstown and surrounding municipalities grow economically is now being conducted on behalf of the Metropolitan Regional Planning Committee

The TriCounty Area Chamber of Commerce, the area’s largest business advocacy organization, on Wednesday (July 27, 2011) distributed to its members a survey form created by the Maryland-based economic and planning consulting firm, TischlerBise. It’s conducting a regional market assessment and fiscal impact study for the committee to learn how municipalities “can work together to encourage economic development, create jobs, and stabilize the tax base.”

In the study’s latest phase, TischlerBise said, “we are asking for direct input from business owners in the region.” And although the chamber took the lead in distributing the survey, business owners who are not chamber members and even those who are located within a 20-mile radius of the borough are urged to speak their minds.

• If you own a business locally, your opinion counts. A copy of the survey, which is an interactive Adobe Acrobat document, is available for download from The Post’s server, here. Complete and save it in Acrobat, or print it out and complete it by hand. Return your Acrobat document as an e-mail attachment to chamber President Eileen Dautrich, or mail the printed copy to the chamber at 152 High St., Suite 360, Pottstown PA 19464.

The survey is short; it consists of only 31 questions, and can be finished in about seven minutes. It asks business owners to identify themselves and their company, and then looks for information on location, employment, growth and, maybe closest to an entrepreneur’s heart, specific ways in which the local business environment could be improved.

In addition to Lower Pottsgrove, committee members include Pottstown borough, and Douglass, New Hanover, Upper Pottsgrove and West Pottsgrove townships in Montgomery County; and East Coventry and North Coventry townships in Chester County. During their last meeting, Montgomery County planner Darlene Wynne told committee representatives TischlerBise was “making good progress” in hearing from business and consumer constituencies.

The study team also has been visiting each of the member municipalities to learn about their opportunities for business assistance and expansion. Lower Pottsgrove Manager Rodney Hawthorne provided the township’s tour on July 15.

A public meeting on the study results could be scheduled sometime during September, Wynne said.

Related:

• Survey Now Looks For Local Business Owners’ Opinions
• Wanted: Your Opinions On Where And Why You Shop
• Study To See If Townships, Borough Can All Prosper