Business Retention and Expansion Final Report - City of Brantford

29In addition, firms noted that other alternative energy sources (19%) and wind energy (17%) would be their preference,however unavailability (48%), cost of installation (36%) and price (30%) were barriers to such uses in their respectivecommunity.With respect to energy supply, management and efficiency, the majority of firms (58%) have no concerns. However, thecost of energy (78%), inconsistent supply/periodic brownouts (35%) and unusually high-energy consumption (17%), areof concern to local businesses. In saying this, 61% of firms also note that their business would benefit from engineeringor technical support with respect to energy conservation and efficiency.The growing dependence of information technology (IT) on business operations has steadily increased in recent years.More and more, businesses are capitalizing on the various benefits that online applications provide, as the Internetbecomes a mainstay in day-to-day business functions. Marketing (42%), customer service (37%), finance and accounting(32%), broadening market potential (25%) and E-commerce (online sales transactions) (21%), are the most importantfunctions carried out online by area businesses. In terms of online presence, 77% of firms have their own website, 65%are on others websites and 92% use email.Overall, 85% of firms indicate that Internet service in general is somewhat important to their business, with some firmsacknowledging that high-speed satellite and high-speed T1 connections are very important.Firms cited that having what was needed (52%), start up costs (22%) and the ongoing costs of service (20%) are themain barriers to implementing new telecommunication technologies.Looking forward to the next three years, respondents were asked to specify what factors would ensure that their businessremains competitive. Firms indicated that local market development (77%), improved customer service (76%) andenergy costs (58%) as the most important. The remaining factors and their relative importance are outlined in Table 4below.Table 4: Future factors ensuring business competitiveness (next 3 years)Factor Percentage (%)Market development (local) 77Improved customer service 76Energy costs 58Market development (outside local area) 55Strategic marketing 55Availability of labour 54Business planning 53Workforce health and safety 53Workforce skill development 48Availability of telecommunications services 45Water/sewer availability 45Water/sewer costs 44Add/change products 43Worker productivity 38Accessing capital 38Strategic alliances 33Exchange rate for Canadian dollar 29Resolution of cross border issues 28