In May, the Chamber performed a survey – with input from the Teton County Housing Department – to collect actual data about the employee housing situation. As a result of the survey, the Chamber is comprising a Business Housing Roundtable to shift the conversation from focusing on the challenges to instead, explore ways to make improvements.
There are currently about 100 businesses involved and room to include any who have yet to connect with the project. Chamber President & CEO Anna Olson says, “Not only did this survey highlight trends and tangible results, it garnered hundreds of relevant comments.” Of the 250 responses to the survey, over 50% are considering adjusting their operations due to the staffing shortage whether through reducing hours or days, adjusting their product, or closing their business entirely.
Those 250 have approximately 3,000 open positions, and 85% of the employers have increased their wages to fill the positions. 80% of the employees represented in the survey commute in from Teton Valley or Star Valley. 55% of the businesses have had up to 5 employees lose their housing in the last 6 months.
