This content was originally published by the Longmont Observer and is licensed under a Creative Commons license.
The Longmont Economic Development Partnership's (EDP) ELEVATE Longmont committee is set to begin contacting Longmont primary employers this week to conduct business outreach visits, according to a press release sent by the Longmont EDP.
Approximately one hundred businesses in Longmont will be surveyed this year.
The survey aims to "identify trends, gather strategic intelligence, address concerns, identify new opportunities, and offer our support," wrote Wendi Nafziger, Vice President and COO of Longmont EDP, in an email to the Longmont Observer.
After receiving the survey results and aggregating the data within, the Longmont EDP identifies trends or issues that the organization can assist with, either by "directly responding to business with their needs, providing resources, and in some cases putting together task forces to work on a specific need/issues," continued Nafziger.
The ELEVATE committee has existed for the past 28 years and is completely volunteer-based. Longmont's primary employers participate every other year, with half being surveyed at a time.
“The ELEVATE acronym: Engage, Listen, Educate, Value, Acknowledge, Tell the Story, and Execute, really provides a framework for how the committee volunteers, as well as Longmont EDP staff and partners, communicate that participating in these engagement visits is really as much about adding value to their business as it is about collecting data to monitor the local economy,” wrote Jessica Erickson, President and CEO of Longmont EDP.
Survey results from 2018 showed that, according to the press release, "64% of Longmont’s primary employer companies reported that their employment needs are increasing" and "67% of Longmont’s responding companies are projecting revenue growth."
