Office of the Creative Economy Business Survey

Each year the Vermont Agency of Commerce and Community Development, through the Office of the Creative Economy (OCE), seeks input to guide our work to support creative entrepreneurs and businesses. Responses are used to guide policy and program development at the Office, and provide an annual basis for feedback.

All responses are confidential and will be shared in bulk, summary form only. The summary report will be available in July.

The 2014 Creative Economy survey should take about 10 minutes to complete. If you have any questions, don't hesitate to contact Lars Hasselblad Torres, Director on 802-917-1788 or lars.torres@state.vt.us. Please help us get this survey into as many hands as possible:

Tweet:
Entrepreneur, startup or growth company in #VT creative economy? Please take the @VermontOCE business survey: https://www.surveymonkey.com/s/vermontoce2014 #tech

Facebook:
Inform Vermont economic development programs and policy! If you're a Vermont entrepreneur in film, digital media, software and games, advertising and marketing, the arts and culture or another creative sector, Vermont's Office of the Creative Economy wants to hear from you. Please take a moment to complete this short, anonymous business survey: https://www.surveymonkey.com/s/vermontoce2014

Thank you!

Question Title

* 1. Prior to receiving this survey were you aware that Vermont has an Office of the Creative Economy (OCE)?

Yes

Question Title

* 2. If ‘yes,’ how did you learn of the Office (OCE)?

Event sponsorship or partnership

Broadcast eg radio, television etc

Exhibit eg trade show

Editorial eg website, newspaper, magazine etc

OCE presentation, networking event

Other (please specify)

Question Title

* 3. The OCE identified the following four ‘macro’ sectors of the creative economy in Vermont as our focus; to which sector does your business belong? (Choose one.)

Advertising and Marketing

Software and Gaming

Film and New Media

Arts and Cultural Enterprises

Other (please specify)

Question Title

* 4. Please rank the top five concerns facing your business (1 is "top" priority). Use N/A for the rest, or rank them also.)

Broadband: Access to high-speed Internet

N/A

Churn: Ample work opportunities to provide employment and generate income

N/A

Contract law: A valid and reliable definition of "contractor" for tax purposes

N/A

Growth capital: Access to expansion finance

N/A

Housing: Availability of affordable workforce housing

N/A

Location: Access to affordable business real estate

N/A

Mobility: Opportunities for career advancement and/or employment mobility

N/A

Perception: Awareness of Vermont's creative industries as a home to talent

N/A

Startup capital: Access to startup financing

N/A

Workforce: Ability to find qualified candidates to fill available positions

N/A

Question Title

* 5. Is there another issue of high concern to your business? Please describe.

Question Title

* 6. Please rank the top 5 factors that influenced your decision to locate your business in Vermont (1 is "top" factor). (Use N/A for the rest, or rank them also.)

Built environment: Compact, walkable communities, authentic downtowns

N/A

Crime: A state with a low crime rate

N/A

Ecosystem: The presence of an entrepreneurial support system including networks, associations, events, etc

N/A

Education: High quality public and private education options for your kids

N/A

Employment training: An education community responsive to workforce readiness requirements

N/A

Natural environment: Clean, healthy outdoor environment and intact landscape

N/A

Openness and access: Access to government leaders and decision-makers (local, state and federal)

N/A

Origins: Vermont is where I'm from, or prior history of residence in Vermont

N/A

Proximity: To be near family and friends

N/A

Workforce: Creative, hard working, entrepreneurial quality of the workforce

N/A

Question Title

* 7. Is there another factor that influenced your decision to start your business in Vermont? Please describe.

Question Title

* 8. Please identify which, if any, of the following in-state resources you or your business have accessed for informational or direct support in the last 12 months. (Check all that apply.)

Downtown Tax Credits: Salable tax credits for construction in designated downtowns and villages

Federal Foreign Nationals Investment Program (EB-5): Access to foreign investment

Procurement Technical Assistance Center (PTAC): Technical assistance to obtain government contracts

Global Trade Partnership (VGTP): Technical assistance to enter international markets

Employment Growth Incentive (VEGI): Cash payments for job creation

Local Regional Development Corporation (RDC): Workshops and local and regional programs

Experimental Program to Stimulate Competitive Research (EPSCoR): Grants for university-business research and innovation

Economic Development Authority (VEDA): Low-interest loans, commercial financing

STEM Incentive: Cash grants for new hires of recent college grads in science, technology, engineering, and math fields.

United States Department of Agriculture (USDA-VT): Grants and loans to rural enterprises.

None of the above

Small Business Development Center (VtSBDC): Business advice and training services including Small Business Innovation and Research (SBIR) grants for technology commercialization.

Manufacturing Extension Service (VMEC): Seminars and technical assistance to increase innovation engineering and manufacturing capacity.

Other (please specify)

Question Title

* 9. Which of the following resources do you use to find qualified workers for open positions? (Select all that apply.)

Trade shows

Listing service - newspaper classifieds, online etc

Professional Associations - Vermont Technology Alliance, Biosciences Alliance etc

vttechjobs.com

None of the above

Social Media - LinkedIn, Facebook etc

Universities and colleges - job boards, job fairs etc

Ads - professional magazine, journals, trade publications etc

vermontjoblink.com

Tech Jam

Other (please specify)

Question Title

* 10. Please indicate which of the following internship programs you have used? (Select all that apply.)

Jobs in Vermont - jobsinvt.com

Linking Learning to Life – High School Internship Training

Navicate Career Readiness Program - navicate.org

Out of State internship programs

Private colleges in Vermont

State of Vermont Department of Labor Internship Program

University of Vermont

Vermont Business for Social Responsibility Vermont Intern Program

Vermont high school or career technical center

Vermont State Colleges (Castleton, Community College of Vermont, Johnson, Lyndon, Vermont Technical College)

Vermont Technology Council - vermont.internships.com

My business does not use interns

Other (please specify)

Question Title

* 11. Please indicate how Vermont's educational system or workforce training programs can provide more value to your sector's recruitment, training and retention needs. (Select all that apply.)

Graduate students with specific (software, managerial, etc.) skills related to creative economy sectors

College in-semester business tours

Expand artistic and technical education in high school.

Expand artistic and technical courses and programs through Vermont colleges (two and four year)

Expand internship programs oriented to the creative sector

Scholarships and/or academic awards in the STEM fields

Expand computer, science, and math courses offered in high school

Other (please specify)

Question Title

* 12. How useful have any of the following OCE resources been to you or your business? (Please complete one response per row.)

	Very useful	Somewhat useful	Not at all useful	Don't know/haven't used it
Sponsored events	Sponsored events Very useful	Sponsored events Somewhat useful	Sponsored events Not at all useful	Sponsored events Don't know/haven't used it
Email newsletter	Email newsletter Very useful	Email newsletter Somewhat useful	Email newsletter Not at all useful	Email newsletter Don't know/haven't used it
Website	Website Very useful	Website Somewhat useful	Website Not at all useful	Website Don't know/haven't used it
Presentations	Presentations Very useful	Presentations Somewhat useful	Presentations Not at all useful	Presentations Don't know/haven't used it
Social feeds eg Twitter, Facebook, etc	Social feeds eg Twitter, Facebook, etc Very useful	Social feeds eg Twitter, Facebook, etc Somewhat useful	Social feeds eg Twitter, Facebook, etc Not at all useful	Social feeds eg Twitter, Facebook, etc Don't know/haven't used it
Networking events	Networking events Very useful	Networking events Somewhat useful	Networking events Not at all useful	Networking events Don't know/haven't used it
Pitch Vermont Life	Pitch Vermont Life Very useful	Pitch Vermont Life Somewhat useful	Pitch Vermont Life Not at all useful	Pitch Vermont Life Don't know/haven't used it

Other (please specify)

Question Title

* 13. Which of following activities would be useful to your company? (Select all that apply.)

Business-to-business networking events

Creative industries production alliance, directory

General networking opportunities eg creatives mixers

Information about creative industries best practices ie crowdfunding, webmarketing

Introduction to state and federal funding opportunities

Marketing and advertising workshops including social media

Business plan pitch workshops and competitions

Training workshops eg management, leadership and finance

Tradeshow and event marketing support

Workshops on government contracting

Other (please specify)

Question Title

* 14. How many years has your company been in business? (Choose one.)

Less than 1 year

1 to 2 years

3 to 5 years

6 to 10 years

More than 10 years

Question Title

* 15. What was your company's gross income for 2013?

Question Title

* 16. How many full-time employees does your business currently employ?

16. If your business is currently hiring, how many full-time employees are you hiring? (Choose one.)

2-4

5-10

11-49

50-100

More than 100

Question Title

* 17. If your business is currently hiring, how many full-time employees are you hiring? (Choose one.)

2-4

5-10

11-49

50-100

More than 100

Question Title

* 18. How many full-time employees do you anticipate hiring in the next one to two years? (Choose one.)

1-2

3-4

5-8

9 to 100

100 and over

I do not anticipate hiring

Question Title

* 19. How heavily does your company rely on freelancers and contract work?

Significantly: more than 50 percent of output

Heavily: 30-50 percent of output

Somewhat: 10-30 percent of output

A little: up to 10 percent of output

Not at all

Question Title

* 20. How would you characterize your business outlook at this time? (Choose one.)

Growing fast, thriving

Well enough, turning a profit

Getting by, breaking even

Barely hanging on, slipping

Not well, may be going under

Other (please specify)

Question Title

* 21. In which county is your business located? (Check all that apply)

Addison

Bennington

Caledonia

Chittenden

Essex

Franklin

Grand Isle

Lamoille

Orange

Orleans

Rutland

Washington

Windham

Windsor

Question Title

* 22. Thank you for completing this survey. If you are interested in seeing the results of the survey please provide the following information (information will not be shared):

Company Name:

Email Address: