The business survey, which was conducted in November 2011, was intended to determine how existing business owners operate their businesses and whether they were satisfied with the amount of support received from the City, the Chamber of Commerce and the Business Council. Ultimately, while this survey yielded very valuable information, it was decided to augment the results of the survey with key informant interviews. The key informant interviews were conducted informally in February and March 2012 and – unlike the business survey – were mostly open-ended questions that encouraged frank discussion about the economic and social policies in Monmouth. The key informant interviews provided many candid responses about desired improvements in the downtown that would have been missed through more formal survey mechanisms.
Together, the business survey and the key informant interviews provide greater clarity about where the City should concentrate its resources to best help existing business owners and provides information on the perceived shortcomings of the City’s existing business assistance programs which can be used to improve those programs in the future. Additionally, given the author’s position as an outsider in this community, the insights provided in both the surveys and the interviews were instrumental in guiding additional research on the tools and strategies needed to address the concerns of existing business owners and residents.