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How's business in Seminole? Survey will tell the tale
By SHARON L. BOND
© St. Petersburg Times, SEMINOLE -- It is likely to take Jimmy Johnson 18 months to interview every business owner in the city. Right now he doesn't even know exactly how many there are. Johnson is executive director of the Greater Seminole Area Chamber of Commerce but slips out of that role to work as a specialist in the Business Assistance Partnership, which the city joined five months ago. "I visit existing businesses and make sure they are okay," Johnson said. "Not only do we want them to stay where they are (in Seminole), we don't ever want to see a business go out of business," Johnson said. The average business in Seminole has fewer than 10 workers, he said. The partnership was developed by Pinellas County's Economic Development office. It is funded by the county, city and Chamber of Commerce in cities that have signed up. In Seminole, each of the three sponsors contributed $10,000, according to Johnson. The survey Johnson is doing should yield information about the current economic health of the city's businesses and what their needs are to get healthy, stay that way and grow. Carolyne Lelii, owner of Just Perfect basket shop on Seminole Boulevard, was one of the first businesses Johnson surveyed. She hopes the information gathered in it might yield useful consumer information for small-business owners. She opened her shop in October. "It will give us ideas. It will help us to increase business or bring up ideas on how to better market our businesses," Mrs. Lelii said last week. The economic development department uses the information from the cities in the program to get a reading on economic conditions across the county and to find out how strong business confidence is. Johnson says that in the greater Seminole area, from Ulmerton Road down to Bay Pines Boulevard, there must be thousands of businesses. The Seminole chamber has 400 members, but the business program goes beyond chamber members. So far Johnson has interviewed 36 businesses and says it will take a year to year and a half to complete the survey. He does 10 to 12 per month. Many of the questions on the nine-page survey are designed to yield a basic profile of a business: what it does, how long it has existed, how many workers it employs, whether it is a branch of a larger company, where its customers come from, and who its competitors and suppliers are, among other things. The businesses also are asked to rate the area's work force when they try to hire, describe what their experience with city permitting is, whether crime has affected the business and if financing is needed or likely to be in the coming year. Johnson, a former manager with Kmart who has been with the chamber since Sept. 1, said lack of qualified workers was the top complaint of the businesses he has surveyed so far. Part of the survey is to make businesses aware of existing recruitment and training programs and what alternate means of financing might be available. Larry Cunningham, senior vice president and chief operating officer of First Home Bank on Seminole Boulevard, was among those surveyed who mentioned difficulty finding qualified employees. "It's hard to get good people," he said, adding that the bank often ends up training people for specific jobs such as loan processor rather than actually finding people with experience. During their interviews, business owners also griped about sign restrictions and told Johnson they want the city to get rid of the occupational license fee. He says that might happen in a year to year and a half. "A lot ask why they can't just put a sandwich sign (A-frame) on the highway," he said. "I tell them we follow the county sign ordinance," which doesn't allow that. Several asked for help to build up their businesses. "I give them three or four suggestions," Johnson said. "I ask about marketing plans, whether their business plan has been evaluated and if they are networking through referrals." Cunningham said that for beginners, the program is valuable because Johnson is able to point new business people to the city departments they need to deal with and help them through the processes. "It's a good concept," Cunningham said of the Business Assistance Partnership. Its problem is, he added, that not enough people know about it.
 © 2006 • All Rights Reserved • St. Petersburg Times
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