The Leelanau Peninsula Economic Foundation (LPEF) is seeking feedback from Leelanau County businesses to inform its future priorities and initiatives.

The online survey, which is now live, asks Leelanau-based businesses and agribusinesses to share details about their experiences “doing business” in Leelanau County. One question asks business proprietors to name the “greatest advantages of having a business/organization in Leelanau.” Elsewhere in the survey, businesses are asked to identify their biggest challenges, to cite any governmental limitations that might be preventing them from growing or expanding, and to rate a variety of common issues – county cell phone coverage, high-speed internet coverage, availability of affordable housing and child care – in terms of how significantly they impair business operations and growth.

Shortly after launching in 2016, LPEF conducted a similar survey to find out the top “concerns and needs for continued success and sustainability” among Leelanau businesses. According to the organization, it was the feedback from that survey that informed the initiatives the LPEF has spent the past seven years working on. Top priorities of the organization so far have included things like housing, high-speed internet access, and increased child care capacity.

Patricias Soutas-Little, chairperson and executive director for LPEF, pledges that “results from the 2024 survey will guide LPEF’s work for the coming years in supporting Leelanau County businesses, agribusinesses and communities.”

The survey can be accessed here.