South Lancaster City Business Research
In September 2013, ASSETS Lancaster moved to Southern Market Center from its long-time home on North Prince Street. As outreach to and interest from the south side of the city increased, they realized there was something missing. No one—not the city Economic Development department, not the Mayor’s office, not the Chamber of Commerce—knew exactly which businesses were operating in the south of the city, who owns the businesses, or what type of support they might need. Aiming to remedy this lack of much-needed information, ASSETS recently conducted a 3-month long mapping and survey project of businesses in South Lancaster City, including 239 businesses mapped and 70 surveyed.
Some interesting results of the findings include:
- Most common business type is grocery retail
- 71% of business owners are male, while 29% are female
- 46% of business owners are Hispanic
- 3% of business owners are African American, despite making up 18% of the population
- Southwest Lancaster has twice the number of businesses as Southeast
An increased focus on South Lancaster City by ASSETS and other institutions is crucial for city-wide economic development because of the long-standing disparities between the southern and northern halves of the city. For example, poverty rates in South Lancaster City are 40%, nearly double those of North Lancaster City, at 22%.
For ASSETS, this mapping serves as baseline data about the economic condition of a significant portion of our city, and an identification of the private sector stakeholders who can be engaged in the work of economic development and increasing access to prosperity for all Lancaster citizens.
Download PDF of report here: ASSETS- South Lancaster City Business Research Project 2014
You can also access an interactive map of South Lancaster City businesses by clicking the following link. Once in the webpage, click the “Show Contents of Map” tab, followed by the box for each sector. Access map here.
Thanks to Lancaster City Alliance and City of Lancaster Economic Development & City Revitalization Department for their support of this project.
The report was also featured in multiple news sources in August: