The following article is from our Spring, 2008 newsletter:
I am pleased to report that the 2008 Kosmont-Rose Institute Cost of Doing Business Survey is nearing completion. The Survey, in its fourteenth year of publication and its sixth year as a Rose Institute project, contains a vast amount of data about fees, taxes, costs, and incentives that affect business in 402 communities nationwide. Our team of freshman researchers under the leadership of Ritika Puri and I have been working hard on data collection and compilation for the last seven months to ensure a quality product:
New Methodologies
This year the Survey will feature new methodology in several places which promises to make it an even more accurate predictor of the relative cost of doing business. These changes were developed by research associate Murray Bessette over the past year. They include new weighting schemes for the criteria that determine the cost rating and a new way of compiling the resulting data.
Maps
This year we will continue to present information in a variety of formats. Other than the strictly quantitative information on the profiles and the comparative dollar sign ratings, we will utilize GIS mapping technology as well. The GIS maps allow the user to see with the glance of an eye how cities stack up next to one another.
Marketing
Lately we have been trying to market the Survey to potential buyers more actively than we have done in the past. We are aided by the broad array of individuals and organizations that might be interested in our authoritative account of comparative city cost. We have been in contact with the libraries at every major business school in the country. We have also begun efforts to contact property developers, journalists, and corporations. This attempt at active marketing of the Survey should yield increased publicity for the Survey and for the Institute.
As the new Manager of the Kosmont-Rose Cost of Doing Business Survey for the upcoming year, I hope to reshape the Survey to provide additional services to our users while maintaining the high standards of previous managers.
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