Lethbridge, AB…Back for the 5th year, the Lethbridge Brighter Together Survey is looking to the Lethbridge business community to provide feedback to 3 organizations. The Lethbridge Chamber of Commerce, Downtown Lethbridge BRZ and Economic Development Lethbridge (EDL) use results of the survey to advocate for policy change, develop new initiatives based on business needs, and monitor any trends in the data year over year. This iteration of the Brighter Together survey will be the 5th undertaking from these organizations and once again ask Lethbridge businesses about the health of their operation. 2022 results showed that 69% of businesses who took the survey, felt positive about the health of their business.

“It’s always interesting to view results from each year and take the data we collect and apply it to tangible programs and advocacy campaigns to help our local businesses,” says Cyndi Bester, CEO, Lethbridge Chamber of Commerce. “We want Lethbridge businesses to have an opportunity to be heard and how best, organizations like ours and our partners can help. When we all collaborate, and come together to look for solutions, it really highlights how our community is taking steps to truly become brighter together.”

The survey, which is now live and running until mid-November will focus on the health of businesses in Lethbridge and what owners and management foresee to be some challenges over the next 6-12 months. Questions are similar to previous versions of the survey, an important strategy when tracking data year over year.

“Keeping questions the same, or as close as we can every survey allows us to highlight trends and outliers in the data. We have seen utility costs and labour/workforce issues be consistent concerns in the survey over the past number of years so it will be interesting to see if those concerns have risen, stayed the same or have decreased,” says Mike Prociw, Workforce Initiatives Program Supervisor, Economic Development Lethbridge. “We can also use the information we gather to drill down into sector or business specific needs, share and address these concerns with individual sectors to look for solutions.”

Results of the 2022 survey found that the biggest strengths to doing business in the Lethbridge area included quality of life, collaborative work environment and proximity to complimentary industries. A trend that Economic Development Lethbridge, CEO, Trevor Lewington hopes to see continue. 

“We live and work in one of the most beautiful areas of the country, have access to two world class post secondary institutions and a multitude of recreational opportunities. So, it’s no wonder quality of life is a big selling point to doing business here,” says Lewington. “What we do with results of the Brighter Together survey is look for ways to help business owners and employees take advantage of all this good stuff. As a result of these surveys over the years we’ve investigated ways for businesses to save money via energy aggregation options, help with labour needs via the Lethbridge Rural Renewal Stream and even offered learning opportunities like the Supply Chain Automation Pilot Program. These are all real-life solutions that have spawned from the Brighter Together survey.”

Results of the Brighter Together survey will be released in late 2023 or early 2024 and be showcased at the Mayor’s State of the City event put on by the Lethbridge Chamber of Commerce. Businesses interested in partaking in this year’s Brighter Together Survey can find a link on both the Economic Development Lethbridge and Lethbridge Chamber of Commerce websites.

For more information, contact:
Mark Neskar
Director, Marketing & Communications
Economic Development Lethbridge
403-393-6376
mark@chooselethbridge.ca