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Entrepreneurs technical assistance needs for sustaining growth and the internal and external challenges that they encounter are constantly evolving. Business advocacy organizations often report to legislators that business issues most important to their members relate to corporate tax reform, rising health care costs or workforce development issues.  However, when other options beyond traditional external factors are offered to business leaders to choose then their most important and critical issues become more nuanced than often reported by advocacy groups. This presentation will report the findings on three research questions that utilizes data from a five-year executive leader forecast survey that is conducted in a southeast Pennsylvania MSA region. The research questions summarize data from over 400 completed surveys and they include: 1) what emerging business technical assistance services are most frequently needed to help businesses continue their growth, 2) what internal or external challenges to business owners are most likely to impact their business growth, and 3) which federal, state or local business legislation/regulations are most important to their business survival. This presentation will address significant differences found between various industry sectors relating to the research questions and trends identified over the period of the annual survey between 2012 to 2017.  The implications for advocacy groups and economic development organizations seeking to assist their regional business needs will be discussed.  This research can benefit economic development organizations, entrepreneurs, legislators and business thought leaders.

Business trends, advocacy, business education and mentoring