The Port Macquarie Chamber of Commerce, working with other local Chambers from Forster-Tuncurry to Kempsey, recently gathered data on actual business performance, confidence levels and also business attitudes towards high speed broadband and use of the internet.
For the Port Macquarie-Hastings Local Government Area, data was able to be compared with the Chamber’s first survey of this kind conducted earlier in the year.
Chamber Executive Officer, Liesa Davies, noted that “It’s great to be getting a better overview of local business sentiment and by mid next year we’ll have a good trend line. From the information gleaned to date, we did see a slight overall improvement (year on year) in actual local business performance the second quarter of 2011. Confidence levels in the third quarter were down slightly in many sectors but they have picked up again in the 4th quarter.
Obviously, we’d like to see them improve a lot more and translate into reality, but it’s not all doom and gloom.”
The outlook for staffing levels, wages and capital investment remains relatively flat, but there was movement in anticipated revenue, profit and cashflow in some industries in the 3rd and 4th quarters of the year. Accommodation and food services stood out as by far the most confident of local key industry sectors (when comparing anticipated 4th quarter performance compared to 2010) and there was some improvement in confidence in the retail sector looking to final quarter of 2011. The Chamber indicated that their key concern continues to be the construction industry where confidence levels remain very low.
With an increased prominence of local discussion on the NBN and high speed broadband, the survey also questioned business on their views in this regard. Almost 70 percent of the 214 survey respondents felt that they are not using the internet to its full potential in their business. More than 80 percent of these felt that internet speed and a lack of knowledge or understanding were the key barriers to maximizing the internet to its full potential. Less than one-third of respondents indicated they would definitely be happy to pay more for higher speeds. Indeed, most felt that a reduced cost would help them attain better value. Over 50percent also indicated that a greater awareness or knowledge of the opportunities would also help in this regard.
To view the consolidated regional survey results and high speed broadband results click here.
To view the comparative Port Macquarie-Hastings results, click here.
