Annual Mount Horeb Business Survey

This is the first Annual Business Survey, developed by the Mount Horeb Community Coalition, a working group made up of staff, board members, and volunteers from the Village of Mount Horeb, the Mount Horeb Area Chamber of Commerce, and the Mount Horeb Area School District.

The goal of this survey is to gather valuable insights into the health of local businesses, the challenges you face, and your workforce development needs. The results of this survey will help us taylor our scope of work to be most beneficial to the health of our business community, and it will allow us to see trends over time.

We also include a local compensation survey, where participants have the option to receive the compiled data. All responses will be kept confidential and will be presented in a way that ensures individual businesses cannot be identified.

Participants have the opportunity to be entered to win a $100 Shop Mount Horeb eGift Card!

The survey closes on Friday, Oct 11.

TAKE SURVEY

Mount Horeb Area School District Capital Referendum

The Mount Horeb Area School District Board of Education approved a resolution to place a $34 million ($68.00 per $100,000 property value) referendum question on the November 5 ballot. If supported by the community, the district will be able to address significant facility challenges for its youngest learners, including inadequate educational and support spaces; aging building systems and infrastructure; and safety and accessibility issues.

This decision follows years of facility and financial planning, committee work, community engagement sessions, and surveys. You can learn more about the process, the need, the solution, the investment, and the ballot question, as well as details about upcoming informational sessions, on the district's website: www.mounthorebschools.org/district/referendum

The Chamber's Business Advocacy Committee (BAC) is looking to see if Chamber members feel we should take a position on this issue ahead of the November 5 election. This is an advisory survey; the Chamber Board has the final say on what issues are taken up and whether the Chamber takes a position or not.

Take This Pulse Survey and let us know your opinion on this issue.

ATV/UTV Routes

The Village of Mount Horeb is considering the possibility of designating certain roads as ATV/UTV routes, which would allow these vehicles to operate on public streets within village limits under specified regulations. The Mount Horeb Area Chamber of Commerce's Business Advocacy Committee is seeking feedback from our members to understand how this potential change might impact local businesses, traffic patterns, and the community at large. Your input is valuable in helping us gauge the overall sentiment and any concerns or support regarding this proposal.

This is an advisory survey. The Chamber Board has final say on what issues are taken up and whether the Chamber takes a position on an issue.

Take This Pulse Survey and let us know your opinion on this issue. 

Electricity Outages

At their monthly meeting, the chamber president/CEO and village administrator discussed the frequent power outages that are impacting local businesses. The village assures us that they are well aware of the issue and that they are taking steps to minimize these outages. The chamber would like to see better communication from the village to the business community, an analysis of other similiar communities and how our outages compare, as well as a clearly communicated plan to put an end to these frequent outages. 

Recommendation

If you are willing to provide a first-person account of how the electric outages impact your business, we encourage you to attend an upcoming Village Board Meeting (first Wed of each month) and/or an upcoming Utility Commission Meeting (second Tuesday of each month). Participating in public meetings is a great way to shine a light on issues impacting the business community.

Parking in Downtown Mount Horeb

There is an apartment complex being proposed in downtown Mount Horeb by Steve Brown Apartments. The location of the project is on Front and First Streets where there is currently a parking lot. The chamber conducted a parking survey of downtown businesses and shared its findings with the Village Board. (A similar study was conducted in 2019.) This prompted the Board to hire MSA to conduct a parking study to assess the  downtown parking needs, both current and long-term. 

There was a Public Open House concerning Downtown Parking on October 23, from 5:30-7:00pm at the Mount Horeb Senior Center. You can download the slide deck presented at this meeting here.  

As part of the study, MSA has also released a Parking Survey and would like residents and business owners/operators to complete it by October 29.

CONTACTING YOUR ELECTED OFFICIALS

FEDERAL

• Senator Ron Johnson (R)
• Senator Tammy Baldwin (D)
• Congressman Mark Pocan (D)

STATE

• Representative Mike Bare (D – Verona)
• Senator Dianne Hesselbein (D – Middleton)

COUNTY

• Dane County Executive: Joe Parisi
• Dane County Supervisor: Patrick Downing

VILLAGE OF MOUNT HOREB

• Village of Mount Horeb Board of Trustees
• Mount Horeb Area School District Board of Education

NEIGHBORING COMMUNITIES

• Village of Blue Mounds
• Town of Blue Mounds
• Town of Springdale
• Town of Vermont

WORKFORCE DEVELOPMENT RESOURCES

Recording of Teens in the Workforce Virtual Panel Discussion

UPCOMING WORKFORCE DEVELOPMENT EVENTS