Still time to be heard to create positive change

TOOWOOMBA Business Chamber, in partnership with the Toowoomba Surat Basin Enterprise and McCrindle, wants to better understand the sentiment and perceptions of local businesses to inform our advocacy and develop evidence-based solutions to assist in standing up for business and fighting for policy change.

This work is critical as an enabler to support and work on behalf of the broader business community. To stand up for rights and interests of the business. To help Toowoomba get what it rightfully deserves. To put a spotlight on what you really think at a local, state and national level.

This is your opportunity to be heard and have your voice, in a confidential way, without fear of retribution.

To assist us in driving positive change, we are building a bank of understanding of what is at play in our local business environment.

To do that, we urge you to be heard by completing the recently deployed survey to the business community. The survey is valuable in that it will:

■ Gather evidence of the issues and pressures facing local businesses;

■ Collect data on current and future programs/initiatives;

■ Understand how businesses are performing, their future sentiment and a detailed understanding of how conditions are affecting the business community in Toowoomba; and

■ Get insights to understand changing trends.

The survey, developed by Toowoomba Chamber member, McCrindle, is an index that measures conditions, performance and sentiment along with space for custom questions to better understand the needs of the business community within a geographic region.

Known as the Business Performance Sentiment Index or PSI, this business engagement tool is designed to help understand the ongoing perception business owners have of their business performance, conditions and sentiment.

Importantly, the results can be tracked over time to reveal the impact of external trends, local programs and nuances in regions.

The Business PSI was designed to be distributed in our local area to measure economic conditions, regulatory settings and infrastructure in our local context.

This allows for nuanced understanding of business performance and conditions, right here in our region.

The survey also measures current performance, with metrics derived from their actual earnings, expenses, staffing numbers, as well as sentiment – their economic cost and growth forecast and expectations of the six months ahead.

Additionally, it is a longitudinal instrument, and so business performance can be compared by a region over time to get real-time analysis of local economic characteristics.

The results help show the impact of local policies, investment and infrastructure development, as well as measuring the impact of state and national issues and economic conditions.

The outcomes of the research will be presented by Australia’s leading social demographer and commentator Mark McCrindle on July 28 (tickets on sale soon).

Mark is an award-winning social researcher, best-selling author and influential thought leader, who is regularly commissioned to deliver strategy and advice to the boards and executive committees of some of Australia’s leading organisations.

Go to the Toowoomba Chamber website, fill out the survey.

Let’s build an arsenal of evidence, so we can together collectively create a tidal wave of positive change.