New survey seeks to learn what help C.O. businesses need to help them recover

BEND, Ore. (KTVZ) -- The global pandemic has hit businesses hard for nearly 11 months. As vaccines are more widely distributed, relief from the number of COVID-19 cases and, ultimately, easing of restrictions on businesses should be coming in the not-too-distant future.

A partnership of local organizations, including the Bend Chamber, OSU-Cascades Innovation Co-Lab, East Cascade Works, the Small Business Development Center at COCC and Opportunity Knocks have created a survey to determine what expertise and assistance businesses will need in order to accelerate their recovery from the economic impacts of COVID-19.

“Our Central Oregon business landscape is rapidly changing. These kinds of collaborations help us to adapt our service offerings to meet the needs of the business community,” ​ shared Ken Betschart, Small Business Development Center director.

The survey will help inform a region-wide effort to coordinate business resources and recovery programs for businesses struggling to stay afloat. The program will not include financial grants to businesses, rather, it will include expert advice and services to help businesses with technology, finance, legal, human resources and other business challenges.

“The results from this survey are key to identifying and prioritizing the needs of our business community as we continue to weather a global pandemic,” said Katy Brooks, Bend Chamber CEO.

The survey went live on Wednesday and will remain open until 5 p.m p.m. Wednesday, January 20, 2021. Any and all businesses in Central Oregon are welcome to provide feedback via the survey at  https://www.surveymonkey.com/r/BusinessResourceSurvey.

The partnership organizations will share the survey through their websites and communication channels and are grateful to others who will do the same to maximize the number of responses.