As School Starts, North Carolinians Hand Out Average Grades To State's Leaders, Brogan Survey Shows

Elected Leaders Lowest at C; Business and Civic Leaders Highest at B-

Raleigh, NC- As schools start a new year around the state, North Carolinians are giving mediocre but passing grades to the state's elected and education leadership, while rating civic and business leaders slightly higher, according to the latest survey from Brogan & Partners, the Raleigh-based marketing agency that conducts the Brogan Survey.

The 600-person telephone poll asked adults statewide to grade groups of leaders based on how well they are "currently serving the State of North Carolina." The choices were aligned like a report card: A, B, C, D or F. The report card results are:

• Civic group leaders B-
• Business leaders B-
• Education leaders C+
• Elected leaders C

When asked which of the groups above offered "the most creative ideas to help grow North Carolina's economy," respondents ranked business leaders first 34.0% of the time. Elected and civic leaders were cited the least at 11.7%. Education leaders were noted 16% of the time.

When asked which of the groups "has been the biggest obstacle in helping grow North Carolina's economy," respondents chose elected leaders most often, 31.2% of the time - more than double any other group. Business leaders were least often cited, at 11.3%.

Finally, when asked which "one group is the most important in helping grow North Carolina's economy," education leaders were chosen most frequently, at 30.0%. Civic group leaders were least often cited, at 4.8%. Business leaders were named 26.3% of the time and elected leaders 18.8% of the time.

"These numbers suggest that most people aren't wildly unhappy with elected leaders, but they seem to be asking for more from them. For example, three times as many people gave elected leaders an F as gave them an A, while C and B grades were the most popular choices for that group," said Jim Tobin, partner at Brogan & Partners. "While citizens gave better grades to the business community for forging a path of growth, scores for that group were heavily skewed toward B and C grades, at 31.2% a piece. We don't see the general dissatisfaction in these grades we've seen elsewhere, which is good for the state. But we also don't see really strong grades being offered either."

The Brogan Survey is a 600-sample, random digit dial North Carolina general population survey, stratified by geography, ethnicity and gender. The live telephone survey was conducted from August 20 - 23, 2007 and has margin of error of +/- 4.0% with a confidence level of 95%. Questions in The Brogan Survey were not commissioned by any candidate, organization or company. The survey was conducted by Brogan & Partners research affiliate The Glengariff Group, Inc., of Chicago.

For more details about the Brogan survey, a breakdown of regions, complete results and additional information about respondents, please visit the survey site at www.brogansurvey.com.

Brogan & Partners Convergence Marketing, established in 1984, specializes in advertising, behavior-based audience targeting, public relations, digital and diversity marketing. The firm has offices in suburban Detroit and Raleigh, service offices in Washington D.C. and Florida and an affiliate in Chicago.