Queen Annes County Economic Development Commission Survey Report (PDF)_201412300934062288

The construction and trades industry was also rated differently by participants based on level of education with those having some college education rating construction and trades as ver

Queen Anne’s County Economic Development Commission

Queen Anne’s County Economic Development Commission Survey 2

Table of Contents

Introduction

This survey, conducted by the Business, Economic, and Community Outreach Network at the Franklin P Perdue School of Business at Salisbury University, was commissioned by the Queen Anne’s County Economic Development Commission (EDC) The intent of the survey was gather input from the local community on issues related to the strategic planning of the County and to identify economic development priority in the County The survey was distributed to a sample of participants from the various industries in the County Furthermore, the survey was made

available on the EDC’s website and publicized through local advertising media A total of 456 respondents completed the survey Of these, 21 participants were not residence of the county and were therefore excluded from the analysis of the results contained in this report The following results and findings give an overview of the responses to each question in the survey, as well as,

a more detailed breakdown of responses by participant classifications

Queen Anne’s County Economic Development Commission Survey 4

Participant Demographics

Participants were nearly equally split between male (51.3%) and female (48.7%) Approximately 89% of respondents were white, Black or African American respondent comprised 2.1% of respondents, and all other ethnicities individually (American Indian or Alaskan Native, Asian, Native Hawaiian or Pacific Islander, Hispanic, some other race) comprised less than 2.0% of respondents Furthermore, 8.4% of respondents did not wish to indicate their ethnicity Due to the low number of responses form non-white participants, responses to the survey questions were not able to be broken down by ethnicity The majority of respondents were over the age of 35 with 17.3% of respondents between the ages of 35 and 44, 26.6% of respondents between the ages of 45 and 54, 24%.2 of respondents between the ages of 55 and 64, and 24.0% of

respondents 65 years and older Only 7.9% of respondents were below the age of 35 with the majority of those respondents between the ages of 25 and 34 (7.2%)

The breakdown of respondents by education, identified by the highest level of school completed,

is provided in the Chart 1 below A total of 434 participants responded to this question

Chart 1 Respondents by Education (Highest Level of School Completed)

Bachelor degree

The breakdown of respondents by length of residence is provided in Chart 2 A total of 447

participants responded to this question

Chart 2 Respondents by Length of Residence in Queen Anne’s County

Queen Anne’s County Economic Development Commission Survey 6

The breakdown of respondents by household income is provided in Chart 3 A total of 402 participants responded to this question

Chart 3 Respondent by Household Income

The breakdown of respondents by sector of employment is provided in Chart 4 A total of 413 participants responded to this question

Chart 4 Respondent by Sector Employment

The breakdown of respondents by industry of employment is provided in Chart 5 All

participants responded to this question

I don't know Other

Queen Anne’s County Economic Development Commission Survey 8

Unemployed 0%

Agriculture, fishing, forestry, or hunting 6%

Arts, entertainment, or recreation

2%

Broadcasting 0% Education - College, University, or Adult 2%

Education - Primary/Secondary

(K-12) 16%

Education - Other 2% Construction

Health Care and Social Assistance 4%

Hotel and Food Services 2%

Information - Services and Data

2%

Information - Other 0%

Processing 0%

Legal Services 2%

Manufacturing 4%

Military 1%

Mining 0%

Non-profits 6%

Other 14%

Chart 5 Respondent Industry of Employment

Which of the following categories best describes your primary area of employment?

Percent

Response Count

Queen Anne’s County Economic Development Commission Survey 10

Importance of Issues to Queen Anne’s County

Participants identified the level of importance for a number of key issues within the County A summary of the overall responses to each question is provided, as well as, a breakdown of participant categories that differed from the overall response set A participant category (by occupation, gender, age, education, length of residence in the County, income level, and sector of employment) is

determined to differ from the overall response set if the majority of the given category of participants selected a response that was two options away from (on the Likert scale from Very Important to Not Important) the overall response

Following the graphical display of the results for each question the weighted scores for each issue are provided in a table format The issues are sorted in order of the issue scored as most important to respondents to those rated as least important To calculate the

weighted score of each issue, each response option was given a weight with “very important” or “excellent” a higher score (either a 4,

5, or 6 depending on the total number of response options) More negative response options were scored lower and “no opinion” was given a weight of zero Thus, the issue with higher weighted scores indicated that a higher percentage of respondents indicated that the issue is very important and fewer indicated that the issue is unimportant

Recruiting, Job Retention, and Expansion Support

Overall a majority of participants rated recruiting, job retention, and expanding support for the agriculture and agricultural products industry, the waterman and seafood industry, the education and educational services industry and small business as very important or important The transportation and utilities industry, the energy industry, the healthcare industry, services related to the retired or older adult population, the technology industry and the tourism and hospitality industry are also commonly rated as very important or important in this regard Respondents in the manufacturing, transportation, and utility occupations varied from the overall responses in regards to recruiting, job retention and expanding support for manufacturing, which was rated very important more often than the overall response, and health care which was rated important or somewhat important compared to the overall results indicating very important Respondents in non-profit occupations varied from the overall responses in regards to biotechnology and medical research and telecommunications, which were rated as not important more frequently than important and very important as the overall ratings indicate respectively

When examined by age group it is found that the only differences lie in the construction and trades industry which was rated as

somewhat important more frequently by respondents between the ages of 24 and 35 and was rated very important more frequently by respondents between the ages of 54 and 65 The construction and trades industry was also rated differently by participants based on level of education with those having some college education rating construction and trades as very important and those with graduate

or professional degrees rating it as somewhat important Likewise, ratings for the manufacturing industry showed that those with a high school diploma rated recruiting, retention, and support for the manufacturing industry as important more frequently while those with professional degrees rated the industry as not important more frequently Similarly, services for retired and elderly population were rated as very important more frequently by those with some college and associates degrees but rated as somewhat important more frequently by those with graduate degrees Recruiting, retention and support for the telecommunications industry was rated as very important more frequently by those with high school diplomas and graduate degrees and rated as somewhat important more frequently by those with bachelor’s degrees The last industry that differed in response based on participants’ education level was biotechnology which was rated as important more frequently by those with high school diplomas and graduate degrees and not

important more frequently by those with professional degrees

The only industries which varied in their responses based on participants’ length of time living in Queen Anne’s County are the construction and trades industry and the tourism industry The construction and trades industry was rated as somewhat important more

Queen Anne’s County Economic Development Commission Survey 12

important by respondents who have lived in the county for between 20 and 29 years and over 40 years Respondents living in the County for between 5 and 30 years (those in the 5-9, 10-19, and 20-29 years of residence in the County) rated recruiting, retention, and support for the tourism industry as very important more frequently than the overall response by participants Those who have lived in the county for between 30 and 29 years rated support for tourism as somewhat important more frequently

Participants also varied in their responses for several industries based on their level of income Responses in regard to the construction and trades industry varied from the overall responses for those earning $100K-$149K, who rated support for this industry as very important more frequently, and those earning over $150K who rated it as somewhat important more frequently Recruiting, retention, and support for the telecommunications industry was rated as somewhat important more frequently by those earning $50K-$74K while it was rated as very important more often by those earning $100K-$150K and those earning over $150K

The only differences in responses by participant sector were in regards to the manufacturing and biotechnology industries In regards

to the manufacturing industry those in the private sector more often rated support for the industry as important, whereas, those in the non-profit sector more often rated support as not important Similar results were found in regard to the biotechnology industry with the addition of those in the public sector rating the support for biotechnology as important more frequently than the overall response set

No Opinion

Queen Anne’s County Economic Development Commission Survey 14

Recruiting, job retention, and expanding support for the following

types of businesses:

Services related to the retired and older adult population 2.947

Professional services (law, accounting, finance, etc.) 2.384

This table provides the weighted scoring of each issue The higher the score, the higher the importance respondents give to the issue

Business and Economic Issues

Overall, the business and economic development issues of access to capital, competitiveness with other counties in the region, the

cost of employer-provided benefits (including healthcare), new incentives for businesses, the revitalization and re-utilization of idle and/or underutilization properties, support for working farms, forests, and water resource-based industries, the costs associated with compliance with state and federal regulations, and the cost of utilities as very important or important The only issue for which

participants differed based on their occupation is the competitiveness of the county, both with other counties in the region and with other states Participants in retail and non-profits, as well as, retirees rated the competitiveness with other states as somewhat

important more frequently than the overall response of very important Those in non-profits rated the County’s competitiveness with other counties in the region as not important more frequently while the overall response set indicated the issue is very important The ratings of competitiveness with other states also varied based on respondents’ age group with those between the ages of 24 and 54 rating the competitiveness with other states as very important more often and those in the 55 to 65+ age groups rated the issue as somewhat important more often than the overall response set The importance of the cost of utilities also varied by participants’ age with those in the 25 to 34 age group rating the issue as very important more frequently and those in the 35 to 44 age group rating the issue as somewhat important more frequently

The ratings of several issues differed based on participants’ level of education including: competitiveness with other states, the cost of employer-provided benefits, global competitiveness, new incentives for businesses, the costs associated with compliance with of government regulations, and the cost of utilities Competitiveness with other states was rated as very important more frequently by those with a high school diploma or graduate degree and rated somewhat important more frequently by those with a professional degree Similarly, the cost of employer provided benefits (including healthcare) was rated as very important more frequently by respondents with a high school diploma or post-graduate degree and somewhat important by those with a professional degree Global competitiveness was rated not important more often by those with a post-graduate degree and rated by important more often by those with a high school diploma Both new incentives for businesses and the costs associated with compliance with state and federal

regulations were rated as very important more frequently by those with bachelor’s degrees and graduate degrees (in regards to the cost

of compliance) or post-graduate degrees (in regards to incentives) Both issues were rated as somewhat important more frequently by those with professional degrees as compared to the overall response set Lastly, the cost of utilities was rated more frequently as very important by those with post-graduate degrees and somewhat important by those with graduate degrees

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Respondents differed, based on their length of residence in the County, in their responses to the issues of competitiveness with other states and the exodus of traditional industries In regards to the competitiveness with other states those who have lived in the county for less than five years and between 20 and 29 years more often rated the issue as very important while those that have lived in the County for between five and nine years and 10 and 19 years rated the issue as somewhat important more frequently This pattern is found in reverse in regards to the exodus of traditional industries Those that have lived in the County for less than five years and between 20 and 29 years rated the exodus as somewhat important while those that have lived in the County between five and nine years and between 10 and 19 years rated the issue as very important

Concern for the exodus of traditional industries also differed based on participant income level Participants in the $25K-$49K income group rated the exodus of traditional industries from the County as very important while those earning more than $150K rated it as somewhat important

The only issue for which participants differed based on their sector of employment was the County’s competitiveness with other counties in the region Those in the public and private sector, as well as, those that did not know with which sector they identify more often rated the competitiveness with other counties as very important Only respondents in the non-profit sector more frequently rated

the issue as not important

No Opinion

Queen Anne’s County Economic Development Commission Survey 18

Business and Economic Development Issues:

Support for working farms, forests, and water resource-based industries 3.333

Revitalization and re-utilization of idle and/or underutilized properties 3.154

Cost of employer-provided benefits, including health care 3.071

Competitiveness with other counties in the region 2.954

Costs associated with compliance with State/Federal regulations 2.888

This table provides the weighted scoring of each issue The higher the score, the higher the importance respondents give to the issue

Workforce Issues

Overall, the availability of childcare services, qualified/technical workers, affordable housing, of high-paying jobs, vocational training and job opportunities, effective work habits and attitudes and employment opportunities for youth and recent college graduates are all workforce issues rated by a majority of respondents as either very important or important Those in non-profit occupations differed from the overall response set on the issues of availability of affordable housing and effective work habits and attitudes Both of these were rated more frequently as somewhat important, compared to the overall rating of very important The availability of housing and the availability of affordable housing were rated differently by participants based on their level of education The availability of housing was rated as very important more frequently by those with some college education while it was rated as somewhat important more frequently by those with post-graduate and professional degrees The availability of affordable housing was rated as somewhat important more frequently by those with post-graduate degrees Participants with some college education, bachelor’s degrees, and graduate degrees rated the availability of affordable housing as very important more frequently than the overall response set

Participants’ responses regarding the availability of affordable housing also differed based on the length of residence in the County Those that have lived in the county for between 10 and 19 years more often rated the availability of affordable housing as somewhat important, whereas, those that have lived in the County between 20 and 40+ years rated the issue as very important more frequently Lastly, both the availability of affordable housing and the availability of high paying jobs (both full-time and part-time) were rated as very important by the majority of participants while those in the non-profit sector rated both issues as somewhat important more frequently

Queen Anne’s County Economic Development Commission Survey 20

No Opinion

Workforce Issues:

Employment opportunities for youth and recent college graduates 3.227

Availability of high-paying jobs (both full-time and part-time) 3.188

Availability of qualified/technical workers 3.075

Availability of vocational training and job opportunities 3.025

Availability of employee-training programs 2.802

Availability of employment incentive program 2.652

Availability of seasonal agricultural workers 2.566

Availability of multilingual communication in the workplace 2.009

This table provides the weighted scoring of each issue The higher the score, the higher the importance respondents give to the issue

Queen Anne’s County Economic Development Commission Survey 22

Infrastructure Issues

Overall, the adequacy of local streets and roads, availability of public water systems, recycling systems, the adequacy of solid waste systems, broadband/high-speed internet infrastructure and access, traffic congestion on local roads, and traffic congestion on highways are all infrastructure issues rated by a majority of participants as either very important or important It is notable that broadband and high-speed internet infrastructure and access was rated as very important by over 60% of all participants who responded to this

question

Participants in the agricultural and other resource-based industry occupations differed from the overall results on their rating of the importance of the adequacy of recycling systems rating this issue as more frequently somewhat important, rather than very important Those in manufacturing, transportation, and utility occupations also rated the adequacy of recycling systems as somewhat important more often than the average respondent Respondents in these occupations also varied from the overall response set rating the issue as less important than the overall rating Respondents in F.I.R.E (Finance, Insurance, and Real Estate) occupations more frequently rated traffic congestion on local roads as somewhat important Lastly, those in non-profit occupations more frequently rated the connectivity

of transportation systems as very important

Participants also varied by age on their rating of the adequacy of local public transportation and the adequacy of sidewalks, trails, and bike paths Participants between the ages of 25 and 54 rated the adequacy of local public transportation as somewhat important more often while those between the ages of 55 and 64 more frequently rated the issue as very important In regards to the adequacy of sidewalks, trails, and bike paths, respondents between the ages of 45 and 64 more frequently rated the issue as somewhat important while those between the ages of 25 and 34 more often rated the issue as very important

Breaking down responses by participants’ level of education shows a difference in the rating of the adequacy and access to local transportation and the adequacy of public sewer systems Participants with some college education rated the adequacy and access to local transportation services as very important more often while those with bachelor’s degrees rated this issue as somewhat important The adequacy of public sewer systems was rated as somewhat important more frequently compared to the rest of respondents which rated this issue as very important more frequently

Only one issue varied by the length of residence within the County: adequacy of sidewalks, trails, and bike paths Respondents that have lived in the county for 5 to 19 years rated this issue more often as important while respondents who have lived in the county for more than 40 years more frequently as not important Lastly, the adequacy of local public transportation was more often rated as very

important by those earning between $25K and $49K and more often rated as somewhat important by respondents earning between

No Opinion

Queen Anne’s County Economic Development Commission Survey 24

Infrastructure Issues:

Adequacy and accessibility of REGIONAL public transportation services 2.637

Connectivity of transportation systems (ex., bike racks on buses, sidewalks by bus stops, park-n-ride lots) 2.436

This table provides the weighted scoring of each issue The higher the score, the higher the importance respondents give to the issue

Government Planning and Management Issues

Overall, a majority of respondents identified the following growth planning and management issues as either very important or

important: active local government role in managing growth, activity community participation in economic development planning, adequacy of community emergency preparedness and encouraging the reuse of abandoned or underutilized sites These issues are closely followed in importance by incentivizing the redevelopment of idle or abandoned sites and encouraging regional coordination

of growth issues and strategies The only occupation group of respondents that differed from the overall responses of participants was those in the F.I.R.E occupations in regards to incentives to redevelopment of idle or abandoned sites Those in F.I.R.E occupations more often rated this issue as somewhat important and important

In regards to the regulations to control development, respondents were highly divided based on age group The ratings of those

between the ages of 25 and 34 were split between not important, somewhat important, and important Respondents between the ages

of 35 and 44 viewed this more often rated as somewhat important and those aged 54 and over more frequently rated this issue as very important This issue was also rated differently by participants based on their length of residence in the County Those living in the County for 5 to 9 years tended to rate the regulations to control development as somewhat important while the rest of respondents tended to rate the issue as very important The only issue for which respondents differed based on their level of education was the adequacy of community emergency preparedness Respondents with some college education more often rated the adequacy of

community emergency preparedness as very important while those with a professional degree more often rated the issue as somewhat important compared to the overall results Lastly, the availability of workforce housing was rated as very important more often by those in the $25 to $49K income group and somewhat important more importantly by those in the $50 to $75K income group

Queen Anne’s County Economic Development Commission Survey 26

No Opinion

Growth Planning and Management Issues:

Active community participation in economic development planning 3.373

Encouraging reuse of abandoned or underutilized sites 3.205

Incentive redevelopment of idle or abandoned sites 3.089

Encouraging regional coordination of growth issues and strategies 2.988

Availability of accurate mapping and Geographic Information Systems data 2.611

This table provides the weighted scoring of each issue The higher the score, the higher the importance respondents give to the issue

Queen Anne’s County Economic Development Commission Survey 28

Social/Cultural Issues

Overall, all responses were nearly equally distributed for all six social/cultural issues Investing in and protecting historical, cultural and “sense of place” assets and valuing and respecting diversity were the two issues more heavily rated as very important Investing in and protecting historical, cultural and “sense of place” assets was the only issue for which participants differed based on their

occupational group Those in agricultural and other resource-based industries rated this issue as somewhat important more frequently than the overall response set which most often rated the issue as very important Respondents also varied on their rating of the

importance of valuing and respecting diversity Respondents between the ages of 25 and 34, as well as, those aged 55 and over rated this issue more often as very important while those between the ages of 45 and 54 more often rated the issue as somewhat important Finally, respondents who have lived in the County for 30 to 39 years rated valuing and respecting diversity as somewhat important compared to those who have lived in the County for 10 to 19 years, 20 to 29 years, and 40+ years more often rated the issue as very important

Respondents did not differ in their average response based on income level, level of education, and employment sector

No Opinion

Queen Anne’s County Economic Development Commission Survey 30

Social/Cultural Issues:

Investing in and protecting historical, cultural, and "sense of place" assets 3.037

Supporting opportunities for civic engagement and volunteering 2.891

Maintaining availability and accessibility of community/senior centers 2.882

This table provides the weighted scoring of each issue The higher the score, the higher the importance respondents give to the issue