Business Owners Receiving Survey

Iowa State University and the Nevada Community Historical Society (NCHS) are joining forces to learn about business owners opinions of Nevada, their participation in community activities and organizations, and their sources of support and business resources.
 
Pete Korsching, professor of sociology at ISU and a member of the NCHS, said all business owners, or the local managers of businesses that are not owned locally, are receiving a survey that contains more than 40 questions and will ultimately help community leaders to facilitate the entrepreneurial process in Nevada.
 
The survey is divided into two parts.  The first half, Korsching explains, is part of an ongoing research effort to determine the factors that help make entrepreneurs successful.
 
The research literature suggests that networking is important, but provides little insight into network participation from the perspective of the entrepreneur do they actively seek to participate in the networks, in what types of networks do they participate, what benefits do they see coming from that participation and is broader community participation linked to business network participation?
 
Korsching said the results of the first part of the survey will be disseminated through public presentations and reports, with the purpose of providing entrepreneurs the guidance in what types of networking is useful and to help community leaders facilitate the entrepreneurial process.
 
The second part of the study will provide the NCHS with some guidance on how to better serve the community and to obtain greater community support and participation in its activities.
 
There is both a selfish and altruistic reason for including this, Korsching said. The selfish reason is that I believe addressing a local need may help to increase the response rate to the survey.  Altruistically, I would like to see the Historical Society become a vital component of the community, and this may help do that.
 
Korsching said the survey questions on entrepreneurship networking were developed through review of the research literature and the ISU Sociologys interests and insights.  The Historical Society questions were developed through input from the Societys board.  Then, the entire questionnaire was pre-tested for content and flow.
 
The two parts of the survey really are not that unrelated, he said. My own research has shown that there is a relationship between success in starting and operating a business and broader involvement in community organizations and activities.
 
Korsching said that hes wanted to do this type of survey for a while.  He said the reason the survey became a reality at this time is because some funding was available and a research assistant at the university was assigned to his office and has similar interests.  She (Cheryl Davidson) will also use the entrepreneurship data for her masters thesis, he said.
 
Business owners are asked to complete the survey and return it.  They are guaranteed their answers will be kept confidential, and that neither their name nor the name of their business will be associated with any results.  Anyone with questions about the survey is asked to contact Korsching at Iowa State University, 515-294-8322 or send him an email at: pkorsch@iastate.edu