Connect Greater Newport, the economic development division of the Greater Newport Chamber of Commerce, will be conducting its fifth annual Business Walk on Friday, November 15th, from 11:00 am to 2:00 pm. The event aims to gather feedback from local business owners about the region’s economic climate and challenges.
Fifty volunteers will be divided into teams to visit nearly 100 businesses in Newport County. The goal is to provide a platform for business owners to share their concerns and suggestions directly with government representatives, community leaders, and state officials.
“We always look forward to this important event each year to visit with business owners on location to hear directly from them about what is going well and what can be improved in our business environment,” said Erin Donovan-Boyle, President and CEO of the Greater Newport Chamber of Commerce.
Information gathered from the interviews will be compiled into a report, shared with participants, government officials, and the public. The report will be used to shape policies and initiatives to improve the business climate in Rhode Island.
Businesses unable to participate in the event are encouraged to complete an online survey available here. The survey responses will be included in the year-end economic pulse report and used to develop programs supporting economic development and the needs of the small business community in 2025.
More info on the event;
Greater Newport Annual Business Walk on November 15th
Meeting Face-to-Face with Businesses to Take the Pulse of our Region’s Economy
Newport County, RI – Connect Greater Newport, the regional economic development division of the Greater Newport Chamber of Commerce, will be hosting its 5th annual Business Walk on Friday November 15th from 11:00am to 2:00pm to meet in person with business owners in Newport County and gather their input on the region’s business climate.
Erin Donovan-Boyle, President and CEO of the Greater Newport Chamber of Commerce, said: “We always look forward to the important event each year to visit with business owners on location to hear directly from them about what is going well and what can be improved in our business environment. This is an excellent opportunity for business owners to share their feedback directly with government representatives, community leaders, and state officials about any obstacles they might be facing and to share suggestions about what kinds of business assistance would help them grow and become more profitable.”
50 Volunteers broken into small teams of interviewers will visit with close to 100 businesses this year to hear directly from them about how to continue to improve the business climate in the region. Stakeholders from all levels of government are eager to hear directly from businesses and to exhibit how important the small business community is to the success of Rhode Island as a whole.
Information collected from the interviews will be developed into a report with recommendations that will be shared with all participants, government officials, business leaders and the broader community to help shape policies and priorities to improve the business climate in Rhode Island.
While we would like to hear from as many businesses as possible, we understand that not all businesses are able to participate in this event this year. Therefore, we encourage them to participate by taking our online survey which will also be incorporated into our end of year economic pulse report and also help us to build our program of work in 2025 to continue to support economic development and the needs of the small business community. The survey can be found at: Business Survey | Greater Newport Chamber, RI | Newport and Bristol County Businesses
Generative artificial intelligence (AI) assisted a What’sUpNewp journalist with the reporting included in this story.
