Business Survey Results Due By August

Business leaders are compiling the results of a survey about consumer and business-owner needs, but the results may not be available until August.

Business leaders embarked on a survey of consumers and business owners last spring to determine their needs and wants, including downtown. The deadline was extended to mid-June in order to get enough responses.

Shayne Miller, Millburn-Short Hills Business Coalition chairman, said about 500 people completed the survey, which was the goal. But about half of those surveys were handwritten, he said.

Those handwritten surveys need to be entered into the computer system before the results can be tabulated, he said, and it's a slow-moving process.

The results of the survey have not been tabulated, so Miller could not give any preliminary results.

The coalition will share the results of the survey with anyone who wants them, including the Downtown Revitalization Committee, he said.

The intention of the survey was to help business leaders guide marketing efforts for Millburn-Short Hills business districts, Miller said. People were asked to detail what publications they read in order to determine where ads should be placed, he said.

Additionally, it would help officials determine who should be sought to fill empty stores. For example, if people want more nail salons, business leaders would know to draw that type of business to town, Miller said.