A new business initiative started by Secretary of State Steve Simon has seen member participation growth in its first several months—a good sign for the future success of the program in helping and contributing to businesses across the state, the Albert Lea Tribune recently reported.
The Minnesota Business Snapshot program was established in September 2016 as a way to provide valuable information to businesses, individuals and education institutions on business throughout the state.
“We are looking to make this as useful and relevant and valuable as we can,” Simon told the Tribune.
The program involves a five-question survey in which up to 550,000 new and established businesses can partake. Already, more than 100,000 have done so.
The survey covers the kind of business operated, the number of employees, the community-identification of the business owner, company revenue and whether the business is part or full time.
It is completely voluntary for businesses to take part in at the time they file their annual renewals with the secretary of state, and it provides a consolidated place for people to find information. This data can be particularly helpful for those businesses looking to expand, Simon said.
“Our members want to use these numbers to help them do a better job of running their business,” Chamber of Commerce Executive Director Randy Kehr told the Tribune. “We can get some good numbers out of this that would be beyond interesting. It would say ‘this is what we really look like. This is what Minnesota is.’ ”
Individuals can purchase the information provided by the surveys on a one-time or recurring monthly basis, depending on their needs.
