HomeMy WebLinkAbout04-07-10 70% see hopeful economic future for South Bend
Office of the Mayor
NEWS RELEASE
April 7, 2010
2 p.m.
70% see hopeful economic future for South Bend
Contact:
Tom Price, Assistant to the Mayor, 235-9261 or 514-2169 or
Mikki Dobski, Director of Communications & Special Projects, 235-5855 or 876-1564
Nearly 70 percent of South Bend residents expressed optimism about the city’s economic
future, according to a recent random-sample survey conducted on behalf of the City of
South Bend’s effort to promote economic development.
According to the survey, 69.5 percent of residents said they were optimistic or hopeful
about South Bend’s economic future. In the survey, 26 percent said they were pessimistic
or doubtful about the city’s economic future.
The hopeful viewpoint was reinforced in open-ended responses to the question, “What is
your opinion about South Bend’s economic future?” Nearly 47 percent responded with
clearly positive responses, compared with nearly 31 percent in 2009 at the height of the
global economic crisis. Pessimistic responses in 2010 declined to nearly 35 percent,
compared with more than 51 percent in 2009.
The survey results will be highlighted in a report to the South Bend Redevelopment
Commission during its regular meeting at 10 a.m. Friday, April 9, in the County-City
th
Building’s 13-floor conference room.
“These results are an encouraging sign that South Bend residents see hopeful
opportunities on the horizon with the opening of Innovation Park at Notre Dame and the
preparation for Ignition Park in the former Studebaker Corridor,” said Mayor Stephen J.
Luecke. “It reflects greater awareness of our local economy’s transition from
manufacturing to more reliance on research and technological innovation.”
The survey also showed that a majority of South Bend residents now are aware of the
City’s efforts to develop Ignition Park in the former Studebaker Corridor – a jump of 16
percentage points in one year.
According to the survey, 56.5 percent of residents are aware Ignition Park, compared
with 40.5 percent in 2009. The increased awareness of Ignition Park exceeded increased
awareness levels for both its sister campus, Innovation Park at Notre Dame and for
MIND, the Midwest Institute for Nanoelectronics Discovery, each of which experienced
more modest increases in awareness levels.
In addition, 45 percent of residents say Ignition Park is important or very important to the
future of South Bend’s economy.
“We are very pleased with the growth of public awareness of Ignition Park and hope that
experience will continue as the final Studebaker buildings on the site are demolished in
2010 and 2011,” Luecke said.
The survey results serve as a measurement of the effectiveness of the South Bend
Redevelopment Commission’s contract with The Blue Waters Group, a communications
firm hired to help promote Ignition Park and other research-based economic development
efforts. Patrick Strickler, president of the firm, will report on its 2009-10 activity during
the Redevelopment Commission’s meeting.
In other survey results,
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Nearly 83 percent of residents said South Bend’s relationship with the University
of Notre Dame is beneficial to the area’s economy.
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Nearly 73 percent of residents have access to the Internet at home.
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There is a significant gender gap in awareness of Ignition Park, Innovation Park
and MIND. Men are statistically more likely to be aware of these technology-
related initiatives than women.
The telephone survey of 400 adults living in the city of South Bend was conducted Feb.
25, 2010. It has a margin of error of +/- 5 percent.
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