SIMI VALLEY : Surveys to Address Business, Housing
In an effort to bolster the city’s economic development, the Simi Valley City Council decided to fund two surveys to help identify what the city can do to lure businesses and encourage commuters to take up residence.
City officials agreed to work with the Chamber of Commerce to conduct employer and employee surveys.
Owners of 2,329 commercial and industrial businesses will be targeted in one survey aimed at giving the city a profile of businesses, how many workers they employ and how many are commuters.
The second survey will query randomly selected employees from 465 businesses about the city’s housing needs. This will help the city address the housing concerns of prospective employers who are interested in locating in Simi Valley, where the average cost of a house is about $235,000.
The surveys will cost the city about $700 and will take about four months to evaluate, city officials said.
Chamber President Carl Herman said that because of the recession, many large employers are scaling back, and the city must provide incentives if it wants to attract new businesses.
Herman is vice president of First Interstate Bancard, which recently announced that it will lay off 130 of its 700 workers in April.
The surveys are expected to go out immediately, city officials said. Employers and employees will be asked to return the surveys within 30 days.
Start your day right
Sign up for Essential California for news, features and recommendations from the L.A. Times and beyond in your inbox six days a week.
You may occasionally receive promotional content from the Los Angeles Times.
