Rating
criteria remained the same from 2000 to 2002, making the 2002 survey
results comparable to the 2000 survey results. Rating criteria and
percentages for each are shown as follows:
|
1998 |
|
2000 |
2002 |
2004 |
2006 |
| Completely
Responsive |
16.1% |
|
Very
Responsive |
19.6% |
28.0% |
11.6% |
20.8% |
| Very
Responsive |
33.9% |
|
Responsive |
33.0% |
39.0% |
49.5% |
33.7% |
| Adequately
Responsive |
26.8% |
|
Average |
23.2% |
14.6% |
10.5% |
18.8% |
| Not
Very Responsive |
8.9% |
|
Unresponsive |
2.7% |
0.0% |
1.1% |
2.4% |
| Unresponsive |
1.8% |
|
Very
Unresponsive |
0.9% |
0.0% |
2.1% |
2.1% |
| Don't
Know |
8.9% |
|
Not
Sure/No Opinion |
18.8% |
18.3% |
21.1% |
17.4% |
| No
Response |
3.6% |
|
No
Response |
1.8% |
0.0% |
4.2% |
4.9% |
Profile of St. Charles businesses:
Characteristics without a comparison to 1998 were new questions in
2000.
|
1998
|
2000
|
2002
|
2004 |
2006 |
| Have
been located in the City for 10 years or less |
66.1%
|
51.8%
|
59.8%
|
64.3% |
48.6% |
| Have
adequate land to expand their business for future needs |
-
|
21.1%
|
26.7%
|
27.8% |
37.1% |
| Are
not planning to leave St. Charles in the near future |
64.3%
|
71.4%
|
81.7%
|
76.8% |
71.9% |
| Have
not been approached by another community to relocate |
60.7%
|
75.0%
|
87.8%
|
89.5% |
N/A |
| Are
planning to increase their workforce in the near future |
78.6%
|
47.3%
|
35.4%
|
31.6% |
N/A |
| Employ
25 or fewer full-time workers |
32.1%
|
68.8%
|
68.3%
|
70.5% |
79.9% |
| Employ
25 or fewer part-time workers |
-
|
86.6%
|
91.5%
|
86.3% |
62.2% |
| Do
not export goods or services abroad |
53.6%
|
56.3%
|
63.4%
|
66.3% |
N/A |
| Are
members of the St. Charles Chamber of Commerce |
30.4%
|
35.1%
|
39.0%
|
38.9% |
N/A |
| Are
members of the Downtown St. Charles Partnership |
-
|
9.0%
|
12.2%
|
7.4% |
N/A |
Importance
and Satisfaction Ratings
Respondents
were given a list of 22 factors that businesses consider when
choosing a location. They were then asked to rate how important
each factor was to their business, as well as how satisfied they
were with their St. Charles location regarding that factor. Each
factor was rated on a scale of "1" to "5," with "1" being
very important or satisfied, and "5" being very unimportant
or dissatisfied. Averages were used to compare factors on the
basis of their relative importance and satisfaction. The lower
the average of a factor, the greater its importance or satisfaction
rating. The comparison below lists factors the respondents thought
were the most and least important, as well as which factors they
were most and least satisfied with regarding their St. Charles
location.
5
Highest Importance Ratings
1998 |
|
2000 |
|
2002 |
|
2004 |
| Fire
Services |
1.87 |
Fire
Services |
1.85 |
Reputation
of St. Charles Community |
2.00 |
Fire
Services |
1.74 |
| Electric
Utility Services |
1.94 |
Police
Services |
2.03 |
Fire
Services |
2.08 |
Internet
Availability |
1.79 |
| Police
Services |
2.02 |
Electric
Utility Services |
2.04 |
Police
Services |
2.12 |
Police
Services |
1.85 |
| Electric
Utility Rates |
2.04 |
Reputation
of St. Charles Community |
2.06 |
Cost
of Buildings (purchase or lease) |
2.24 |
Cost
of Buildings (purchase or lease) |
2.01 |
| Availability
of Labor |
2.06 |
Cost
of Buildings (purchase or lease) |
2.12 |
Access
to Major Highways |
2.36 |
Electric
Utility Services |
2.01 |
5
Highest Satisfaction Ratings:
1998 |
|
2000 |
|
2002 |
|
2004 |
| Reputation
of St. Charles Community |
2.06 |
Reputation
of St. Charles Community |
1.70 |
Reputation
of St. Charles Community |
1.88 |
Fire
Services |
1.78 |
| Police
Services |
2.06 |
Fire
Services |
1.77 |
Fire
Services |
1.97 |
Police
Services |
1.86 |
| Fire
Services |
2.12 |
Police
Services |
1.86 |
Police
Services |
1.99 |
Reputation
of St. Charles Community |
0.00 |
| Water
Utility Services |
2.47 |
Sewer
Utility Services |
2.28 |
Water
Utility Services |
2.40 |
Internet
Availability |
0.00 |
| Sewer
Utility Services |
2.54 |
Market
for your products/services |
2.29 |
Market
for your products/services |
2.42 |
Market
for your products/services |
2.36 |
5
Lowest Importance Ratings:
1998 |
|
2000 |
|
2002 |
|
2004 |
Access
to
Railways |
3.86 |
Access
to Railways |
4.34 |
Access
to Major Highways for Freight Shipments |
4.69 |
Access
to Railways for Freight Shipment
|
4.23 |
| Market
for your products/services |
2.67 |
Internet
Availability |
2.65 |
Access
to Commuter Railway
(new in 2002) |
3.83 |
Access
to Commuter Railway |
4.09 |
| Permit
Fees |
2.62 |
Sewer
Utility Rates |
2.64 |
Building
Inspection Process |
2.88 |
Access
to Regional Airports
(new in 2004)
|
3.94 |
| Development
- Permit Process |
2.53 |
Water
Utility Rates |
2.64 |
Utility
Connection Fees |
2.88 |
Access
to Int'l Airports (new in 2004) |
3.31 |
| Connection
Fees |
2.48 |
Building
Inspection Services |
2.58 |
Sewer
Utility Rates |
2.86 |
Building
Permit Process |
2.53 |
5
Lowest Satisfaction Ratings:
1998 |
|
2000 |
|
2002 |
|
2004 |
| Development/Permit
Process |
3.15 |
Access
to Railways |
3.20 |
Access
to Major Highways for Freight Shipments |
3.26 |
Property
Taxes |
3.30 |
| Property
Taxes |
3.15 |
Availability
of Labor |
3.14 |
Property
Taxes |
3.08 |
Cost
of Land |
3.26 |
| Connection
Fees |
3.14 |
Utility
Connection Fees |
3.09 |
Cost
of Land |
3.02 |
Access
to Commuter Railway |
3.13 |
| Permit
Fees |
3.09 |
Property
Taxes |
3.06 |
Access
to Commuter Railway |
2.95 |
Building
Permit Fees |
3.08 |
| Availability
of Labor |
3.08 |
Building
Permit Fees |
3.04 |
Building
Permit Fees |
2.94 |
Cost
of Buildings (purchase or lease) |
3.08 |
5
Highest Discrepancies Between Importance and Satisfaction
Ideally,
the areas that the respondents rated the highest in importance should
also be the highest in satisfaction. While this is true for many of
the factors listed in the survey, there are some areas with discrepancies
between the importance ratings and the satisfaction ratings given
by the respondents. Listed below are the five factors with the greatest
difference between the average importance ratings and the average
satisfaction ratings. A negative rating indicates that the importance
rating was higher (closer to "1") than the satisfaction
rating. In other words, respondents are proportionately less satisfied
with these items.
| 1998 |
|
Importance |
Satisfaction |
Discrepancy |
| Availability
of labor |
2.06 |
3.08 |
-1.02 |
| Property
taxes |
2.17 |
3.15 |
-0.98 |
| Electric
utility rates |
2.04 |
2.98 |
-0.94 |
| Cost
of buildings (purchase or lease) |
2.06 |
2.92 |
-0.86 |
| Cost
of land |
2.18 |
2.94 |
-0.76 |
| |
|
|
|
| 2000 |
|
Importance |
Satisfaction |
Discrepancy |
| Cost
of buildings (purchase or lease) |
2.12 |
3.03 |
-0.91 |
| Property
taxes |
2.17 |
3.06 |
-0.89 |
| Availability
of labor |
2.34 |
3.14 |
-0.80 |
| Cost
of land |
2.23 |
2.97 |
-0.74 |
| Utility
connection fees |
2.42 |
3.09 |
-0.67 |
| |
|
|
|
| 2002 |
|
Importance |
Satisfaction |
Discrepancy |
| Cost
of buildings (purchase or lease) |
2.24 |
2.88 |
-0.64 |
| Property
taxes |
2.55 |
3.08 |
-0.53 |
| Access
to major highways |
2.36 |
2.81 |
-0.45 |
| Internet
availability |
2.40 |
2.78 |
-0.38 |
| Cost
of land |
2.79 |
3.02 |
-0.23 |
| |
|
|
|
| 2004 |
|
Importance |
Satisfaction |
Discrepancy |
| Cost of
buildings (purchase or lease) |
2.01 |
3.08 |
-1.07 |
| Property
taxes |
2.38 |
3.30 |
-0.92 |
| Cost of
land |
2.43 |
3.26 |
-0.83 |
| Building
permit fees |
2.42 |
3.08 |
-0.66 |
| Electric
utility rates |
2.39 |
3.03 |
-0.64 |
