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. 

RECENT RESULTS:

The May Mood-o-meter was about Consumer Habits.  Here's what respondents said:

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. 

CONGRATULATIONS TO OUR WINNERS:

Mood-o-Meter participants will be entered to win a $25 gift certificate from Magnolia's on Prospect (formerly the Butcher Block Steakhouse and Bourbon Bar) in Junction City in Peoria.  We'll be giving away a $25 gift certificate each month! 

May: Robin Simpson of Peoria 

April: Gayla Walker of Peoria

March:  Julie Brown of Peoria Heights

February:  Ashleigh Grimm of Peoria.

January:  Kim Watters

RECENT MOOD-O-METER RESULTS: 

The April Mood-O-Meter topic was about the Greater Peoria Economic Scorecard that 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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In February we asked about your use of technology and social media.  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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In January we asked you to 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.