Mood-O-Meter
The Heartland Partnership and WHOI's Good Company are taking the pulse of the region with the "Mood-O-Meter". Your feedback will be revealed on Good Company on WHOI on the 3rd Tuesday of each month and on The Heartland Partnership website. We appreciate your feedback.
This month we want to know how you beat the heat, do you have summer travel plans and are you following the presidential campaigns?
How do you beat heat: Most respondents said by staying inside or going swimming.
Do you have travel plans: YES - 65% NO - 35%
Most respondents plan on staying in the Midwest if they are going to travel.
Are you following the Presidential election: YES - 70% NO - 30%
Some respondents said it's too early to follow while others said they are wary/skeptical and there's too much negativity and not much "substance".
CONGRATULATIONS TO OUR WINNERS:
Mood-o-Meter participants will be entered to win a gift certificate each month!
July: Betsy Yarcho of Morton $25 gift certificate from Weaver Ridge.
June: Jim Webb of Peoria $25 gift certificate from Magnolia's on Prospect (formerly the Butcher Block Steakhouse and Bourbon Bar) in Junction City in Peoria.
May: Robin Simpson of Peoria $25 gift certificate from Magnolia's on Prospect (formerly the Butcher Block Steakhouse and Bourbon Bar) in Junction City in Peoria.
April: Gayla Walker of Peoria $25 gift certificate from Magnolia's on Prospect (formerly the Butcher Block Steakhouse and Bourbon Bar) in Junction City in Peoria.
March: Julie Brown of Peoria Heights $25 gift certificate from Magnolia's on Prospect (formerly the Butcher Block Steakhouse and Bourbon Bar) in Junction City in Peoria.
February: Ashleigh Grimm of Peoria $25 gift certificate from Magnolia's on Prospect (formerly the Butcher Block Steakhouse and Bourbon Bar) in Junction City in Peoria.
January: Kim Watters $25 gift certificate from Magnolia's on Prospect (formerly the Butcher Block Steakhouse and Bourbon Bar) in Junction City in Peoria.
RECENT MOOD-O-METER RESULTS:
JUNE:
What are your thoughts on expanded gambling and pension reform in Illinois?
Gambling Reform: The Illinois General Assembly passed a bill that would expand gambling in Illinois. The bill provides for 5 more casinos and slot machines at horse racing tracks. The Governor vows to veto the bill. Do you support expansion of gambling in Illinois?
yes 39%
no 44%
Pension Reform: There is no agreement on a pension reform package in Illinois and the issue of "cost shifting" seems to be at the root of the conflict. Do you believe local school districts and universities should be able to pass costs for pensions onto taxpayers outside of that jurisdiction? (i.e. should the cost of teacher pensions in Schaumburg be moved onto taxpayers in Greater Peoria?)
yes 4%
no 94%
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MAY:
Do you make an effort to shop locally: 75% of respondents said they make a conscious effort to shop locally. Most say they shop locally for things like groceries, clothing, hardware and specialty gifts.
How often do you shop online: 50% of respondents say they shop online a few times each year while 30% say they shop online monthly.
How often do you go out to eat: 35% of respondents say they go out to eat a few times each week about the same amount (30%) say they go out to eat a few times each month.
What to do for fun in Greater Peoria: There was a good mix of results including outdoor activities (hiking, biking, boating), sporting events (Chiefs & Rivermen), outdoor festivals, concerts (including live music at bars) & enjoying the arts. Surprisingly, happy hour festivities appeared in a few responses too.
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APRIL:
The Greater Peoria Economic Scorecard was released in March. We asked if you believe an annual scorecard like this is useful? 92% of you said yes. When asked to rank each scorecard category on scale of 1-5 (5 being best) the average response was a 4 for each category.
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The March Mood-o-meter topic was about confidence in our national economy. Steve Forbes was in Greater Peoria recently and said the country is facing a serious financial crisis right now but we will pull out of it with some very hard work and serious reforms. We wanted to know if you agree. 88% of respondents in our Mood-O-Meter said they do agree the country will pull out of the financial crisis however 93% of people don’t believe it will happen before the end of the year.
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FEBRUARY:
What types of technology and social media do you use? Here's what we found out:
• Facebook, text and email are the top three ways people prefer to communicate.
• 31% respondents said they use an ipad or tablet.
• When asked to rank how you prefer to communicate for work: Email, phone, text, social media
• When asked to rank how do you prefer to receive information for work: Email, phone, direct mail, social media, text
• When asked to rank how you prefer to communicate with friends & family: Text, email, phone, social media
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JANUARY:
Rate the Greater Proria Region on a scale of 1-10 (10 being the best). The majority of respondents rated the Greater Peoria Region an 8. When asked what US cities you believe are competitors to Greater Peoria? Responses were varried to include cities in the general region as well as others around the nation: Bloomington, Springfield, Millwakee, Indianapolis, Rockford, Champaign, Quad Cities, Chicago, Atlanta, Nashville, NYC and St louis. The third question asked respondents to identify cities the Greater Peoria Region should aspire to be like: St Louis, Indianapolis, San Antonio, Austin, Phoenix, San Diego, Chicago, Cincinatti, Minneapolis, Branson and Denver were the top responses.
In order for the Greater Peoria Region to remain a leader in the Midwest, we need a baseline set of measurements so we can better understand how we perform year to year, both against ourself and against all of the regions we compete with. That’s why The Heartland Partnership has developed the scorecard project. To learn more about the scorecard project including what categories are we scoring, who are we scoring ourselves against, how can we use this information and when will it be available watch this video.