From May 1st to July 15th, 2024, the Oregon Values and Beliefs Center (OVBC), in partnership with the Columbia Economic Team (CET), designed and administered a survey and interview series to discover insights about the Columbia County business community. The Columbia County Business Community Connection Project surveys are a part of CET’s mission to promote economic prosperity in Columbia County and were funded by a grant from Business Oregon through Oregon State Lottery funds.
METHODOLOGY:
The project combines a proven model, direct interviews, data analysis, and collaboration to create an informed, shared vision for future business development in the county. Responses were collected through a 10-15 minute pre-survey and extensive hour-long interviews. Participating businesses were encouraged to address both individual and community needs.
In total, 90 businesses participated in the project, 75 of which completed the pre-survey, 75 of which completed their interviews, and 61 of which completed both. All responses from both the pre-survey and the interviews are included in these reports. To make clear which document each question is from, an “S” will go before the pre-survey questions and an “I” before the interview questions.
- (ex: “S.Q25. Are you a member of your local chamber?” is a question from the pre-survey. “I.Q25. Are there any resources you might wish to know more about, or for us to connect you to, for your business? Please check all that apply.” is a question from the interviews.)
The businesses represented are a mix of those selected, referred, chosen at random, and willing to volunteer their time. Furthermore, the representation is intentionally diverse, reflecting businesses from all sectors, types, ages, and sizes. A volunteer force of more than 55 dedicated community leaders were trained by CET and OVBC to conduct these interviews in teams of two, one interviewer and one note-taker.
Due to rounding, the percentages reported do not add up to 100%. Respondents could skip any questions. To reflect this, response counts are listed on each infographic.
Included below are a series of reports created from the information volunteered by local business-owners. Click on the picture to download and view the report you are most interested in:
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS:
Oregon Values and Beliefs Center (OVBC): This research was completed by the Oregon Values and Beliefs Center as a community service. OVBC is an independent and non-partisan organization and an Oregon charitable nonprofit corporation. Representative OVBC projects include a series of in-depth business interviews for the Columbia County Economic Team, as well as an extensive opinion research study about Oregonian’s values and beliefs, in partnership with over 20 organizations (Learn more about the 2023 Typology Study).
Columbia Economic Team: This research was completed in partnership with the Columbia Economic Team to further their mission to promote the creation, retention, growth, and attraction of business and industry throughout the county. CET is a private and public membership organization that serves Columbia County.