Groton – The town hired a research firm that on Monday began surveying residents and businesses to evaluate town services and determine the best way to drive future economic development.

Town planners paid Cromwell-based GreatBlue Research Inc. $14,500 to conduct the two surveys during the next one to two weeks. The first survey asks town residents what they want in Groton that they don’t find, including types of housing, and what they leave to shop for or get. The second survey asks businesses what they need in Groton, what helps them do business and what they consider an impediment.

The surveys follow a recent market analysis begun by the prior Town Council to look at how Groton fits into the regional market and to boost the local economy. One of its key findings was that nearly 80 percent of Groton’s workforce commutes from outside of town, said Paige Bronk, manager of community and economic development.

“They do not live in Groton, and it makes people wonder why. Why is that? And we don’t have the full answer for that, but we know that part of the reason is that we haven’t fully realized Groton’s potential yet,” he said.

The survey results and a report on the key findings will be released publicly in September or October, Bronk said. Groton's Department of Planning and Development Services will then use the data to reach out to developers, real estate agents and investors.

Department Director Jonathan Reiner said staff members have already begun calling investors, but the survey will give Groton another tool to help gain an edge in the market.

"If we get statistically significant data showing that a certain percentage of people in town are looking for a specific housing type and it’s not being built right now, and we can bring that out to the development community and get the product that the market is desiring,” Reiner said.

“We’re at somewhat of a crossroads now between baby boomers and millenials,” Bronk said. “And millenials have an almost entire opposite view of housing than baby boomers. We’re trying to get an understanding of what the younger demographic might desire, rather than the rest of us.”

GreatBlue will call a random sampling of residents to complete 350 residential surveys and a random sampling of businesses to finish 100 surveys. The surveys don't involve the use of auto dialers, so residents and businesses will always be speaking to a person who is actually on the phone.

It typically takes about 10 telephone calls to get one finished response to a residential survey and 15 calls to get one completed business survey, so the company will likely make about 5,000 calls in Groton during the next one to two weeks.

d.straszheim@theday.com