Attachment D

SELECTED CROSS TABULATION INFORMATION

In an effort to conduct further analysis on the data, cross tabulations were performed on selected

criteria. These cross tabulations indicated how surveyed companies answered on two or more

questions at the same time. The selected criteria included topics on annual sales, exporting

activities, online business, sales outlook, cluster, employment outlook, and local networking.

Further analysis of the industry cluster data included entering the data into the SPSS software - a

statistical analysis program, transforming the data to prepare it for cross-tabulation,

producing cross-tabulations based on selected criteria, and then creating tables showing the

results from the cross-tabulations.

Information regarding the cross tabulations is on file and available upon request.

Annual Sales

Companies were divided into two groups based on their annual sales so that there would be a

roughly equal number of companies in each group. Companies were considered small if they

had annual sales of $5 million or less while companies were considered large if they had annual

sales greater than $5 million. The nine companies that answered "Confidential" to the annual

sales question were omitted from this analysis. Twenty-six (26) companies had annual sales of

$5 million or less. Twenty-five companies reported annual sales greater than $5 million.

The larger companies were more likely to:

Engage in exporting activities (56% large companies vs. 38% small companies)

Seek help from local organizations (32% large companies vs. 8% small companies) and

from local colleges (36% large companies vs. 15% small companies)

Consider themselves as leaders or innovators in their industry (60% large companies vs.

23% small companies)

Consider Economic Development agencies to be among the most important groups to

which they belong (48% large companies vs. 19% small companies)

Believe it is important to participate in more networking opportunities. (64% large

companies vs. 42% small companies)

Have a website or online directory (80% large companies. vs. 58% small companies)

Identify lack of suppliers as a barrier to buying more supplies locally (80% large

companies vs. 58% small companies)

Indicate that competition was one of the top issues they face in their industry (48% large

companies vs. 23% small companies)

The smaller companies were more likely to:

Indicate that workforce was one of the top issues they face in their industry (35% small vs.

16% large)

Expect their employment to grow over the next 12 months (65% small companies vs. 36%

large companies)

Large and small companies did not differ much in:

Whether they thought their industries were part of an industry cluster at the beginning of

the survey (28% large companies vs. 35% small companies) or at the end of the survey

(64% large companies vs. 58% small companies).

Whether they felt that being part of an industry cluster was beneficial (83% large

companies vs. 73% small companies).

Export

Companies were divided into two groups based on their exporting activities. Twenty-seven (27)

companies indicated their company exports. Thirty-three (33) companies indicated they do not

export.

Companies that do export were more likely to:

Obtain help/assistance from a local business (37% export vs. 15% no export)

Consider themselves to be a leader or innovator in their industry (59% export vs. 30% no

export)

Expect their sales to grow in the next year (81% export vs. 58% no export)

Engage in online buying/selling (56% export vs. 27% no export)

Have a website or online directory (85% export vs. 51% no export)

Identify lack of suppliers as a barrier to buying more supplies locally (85% export vs. 54%

no export)

Expect their employment to grow over the next 12 months (67% export vs. 30% no

export)

Companies that do not export were more likely to:

Consider a local competitor to be a leader or innovator in their industry (42% no export

vs. 4% export)

Indicate that the economy was one of the top issues they face in their industry (42% no

export vs. 22% export)

Perceive being part of an industry cluster as beneficial to their company (31% no export

vs. 13% export)

Companies that export and companies that do not export did not differ much in:

Whether they thought competition was a top issue facing their industry (67% export vs.

67% no export)

Online Business

Any company that indicated they engaged in either online transactional based purchasing or

selling was counted as a company that conducts business online. Twenty-four companies

conduct business online. Thirty-six (36) companies indicated they do not conduct business

online.
Companies that do conduct business online were more likely to:

Be manufacturers (79% manufacturers vs. 21% other)

Engage in exporting activities (62% yes-online vs. 33% no-online)

Consider themselves as leaders or innovators in their industry (67% yes-online vs. 28%

no-online)

Have a website or online directory (83% yes-online vs. 56% no-online)

Companies that do not conduct business online were more likely to:

Consider local competitors as leaders or innovators in their industry (33% no-online vs.

12.5% yes-online)

Companies that conduct business online and companies that do not conduct business online did

not differ much in:

Whether they obtained help/assistance from local business (29% yes-online vs. 22% no-

online)

Whether they felt that an industry related organization was the most important advisory

committee or board their company was involved in (54% yes-online vs. 53% no-online)

Sales Outlook

Companies were divided into two groups based on their sales outlook. Forty-one (41) companies

projected sales growth over the next 12 months. Nineteen (19) Companies projected steady or

declining sales over 12 months (no growth).

Companies that anticipate sales growth were more likely to:

Engage in exporting activities (54% growth vs. 26% no growth)

Consider their competitors (not necessarily local) to be leaders or innovators in their

industry (68% growth vs. 32% no growth)

Have annual sales of greater than $5 million (54% growth vs. 36% no growth)

Engage in online buying/selling (49% growth vs. 21% no growth)

Expect employment growth over the next 12 months (63% growth vs. 10% no growth)

Anticipated sales growth was not a factor in:

Whether they felt the region could benefit from a regional brand or identity (82% growth

vs. 81% no growth)

Indicating that workforce is a top issue facing their business (27% growth vs. 26% now

growth)

Whether they felt that their company was part of an industry cluster (65% growth vs. 68%

no growth)

Cluster Question

Companies were asked if they believed they were part of an industry cluster. Thirty-seven (37)

companies answered yes and twenty-three (23) companies answered no.

Companies that believe they are a part of an industry cluster were more likely to:

Feel that being part of an industry cluster is beneficial to their company (94% yes-cluster

vs. 50% no-cluster)

Companies that do not believe they are part of an industry cluster were more likely to:

Indicate an industry related organization was the most important advisory committee or

board their company was involved in (70% no-cluster vs. 43% yes-cluster)

Companies that do not believe they are part of an industry cluster and the companies that do

believe they are a part of an industry cluster did not differ much in:

The percentage of manufacturing firms (68% yes-cluster vs. 65% no-cluster)

Companies that engage in exporting activities (46% yes-cluster vs. 43% no-cluster)

Whether they offered help/assistance to competition (not necessarily local) (16% yes-

cluster vs. 13% no-cluster)

Employment Outlook

Companies were divided into two groups based on their employment outlook. Twenty-eight (28)

companies anticipated an increase (growth) in employment over the next 12 months and thirty-

two (32) companies projected steady or declining (no growth) employment over the next 12

months.
Companies that anticipated an employment increase were more likely to:

Engage in exporting activities (64% growth vs. 28% no growth)

Obtain help/assistance from a local college (36% growth vs. 12% no growth)

Think it would be important for their company to participate in more local/regional

networking opportunities (61% growth vs. 40% no growth)

Have annual sales of greater than $5 million (64% growth vs. 35% no growth)

Anticipate a growth in annual sales over the next 12 months (93% growth vs. 47% no

growth)

Have a website or online directory (79% growth vs. 56% no growth)

Companies that expect steady or declining employment were more likely to:

Have annual sales of $5 million or less (65% no growth vs. 36% growth)

Indicate that workforce was one of the top issues they face in their industry (34% no

growth vs. 18% growth)

Local Networking

Need information from Sterngold regarding the tables for this section.