Public transit appears to be more of a concern to Columbia businesses than it is among Columbia's elected officials. Last April the Greater Columbia Chamber of Commerce issued the results of its survey titled

The Greater Columbia

Business Retention &

Expansion Repor t . The report was part of the

chamber's Navigating

from Good to Great program. After the four months since the report was released, the business community is still stirring with interest.

The report came from 103 personal interviews with local businesses between April 2008 and January 2009. Among the businesses in the personal interviews, there were 30,000 employees and annual revenue of more than $12 billion.

Among the highlights from the first round of interviews, quoting directly from the report:

• Forty percent of businesses consider growth in sales as their single greatest accomplishment during the past 12 months.

• Forty- two percent of companies project an increase in sales of 1- 9 percent in the next 12 months, while only 16 percent of businesses project no growth at all.

• Skilled professionals generally earn more than $66,000 annually, and semi- skilled earn approximately $40,000, while unskilled entry- level employees earn approximately $25,000.

• Health care and manufacturing are the sectors projecting the largest opportunities for growth over the next 12 months.

• Municipal services were generally rated excellent to good with the exception of the percentages of interviewees who graded the following as poor: (40%) public transportation, (35%) local road network/condition, and (15%) zoning and land use. Percentages are approximate.

• The business climate in our area was generally rated good with the exception of the areas of K- 12 education, workers comp, and various tax structures.

• Finally, 70 percent of all those interviewed expect the economy to improve over what it is today.

The No. 1 element identified that may detract from the community's attractiveness as a place to do business is the lack of political leadership. No. 2, lack of qualified labor, and No. 3, schools, are practically tied for second place as community detractors. Out of the 14 elements where the lack of political leadership leads the group, the least problematic element is racial tension, No. 14.

Under the heading

Qual i ty of Li fe, the top four major concerns are (1) homelessness, (2) education (K- 12), (3) traffic flow, and (4) public transit. The least concern is health- care services. With about as little concern as there is for health- care services is the availability of retail/hospitality. In other words, overwhelmingly, the interviewees say Columbia has all the shops/restaurants/hotels it can support.

Public transit appears to be more of a concern to Columbia businesses than it is among Columbia's elected officials. In the summer of 1991, a report on the local bus system was issued to SCANA, the bus operator at the time, and to most local elected officials. In the report, the Columbia bus system was identified as about half the national average in bus service on a per capita basis.

The number of buses on the street at peak morning demand time, 8 am, in 1991 was about the same as what the system runs today. Actually, on weekends the service in 1991 was better than it is now, particularly considering the connections between Richland County and Lexington County. What is also unchanged for the past 18 years since the report is the number of members of Richland County Council, Lexington County Council, and Columbia City Council who regularly ride the bus system for quality control: none.