The newly renamed Washington State Department of Commerce (formerly CTED, or Department of Community, Trade and Economic Development) is seeking input from various stakeholders including the business community. The survey, designed to gain a broad sense of the state’s opportunities and challenges as it considers how to grow and improve jobs in Washington, will run online through Aug. 28.

The department changed its name at the end of July and has created a new mission: to grow and improve jobs in Washington. “Our vision is to be the widely recognized business champion in state government and a respected leader and partner with the private sector in growing our state’s economy for the benefit of all of our citizens,” Rogers Weed, hired earlier this year as the director of the Department of Commerce, wrote in an email inviting stakeholders to take the survey.

The survey is a follow of forums Weed and other commerce officials conducted in July and August around the state, soliciting input from a variety of sectors including elected officials and business leaders. The “Commerce Connections” tour hosted nearly 100 conversations, according to Weed, who wrote: “What we learned in these meetings, along with the survey and our own research, will provide key guidance for the report… I’m excited about the wide range of perspectives we heard in this first phase of outreach.”

The feedback will be used as the department prepares a report for the governor and the Legislator with a proposal on its restructuring and key functions. In May, Gov. Chris Gregoire signed a bill changing the department’s name and requiring the director to develop a new department focused on a clear mission related to economic development.

The survey asks a short list of questions such as how the state ranks in categories like skilled workforce, tax structure and access to capital; and what factors are the most important to growing and improving jobs. A link to the survey is available at www.commerce.wa.gov.