VALPARAISO | The city's business environment is having its temperature taken and its pulse checked.

A survey by Purdue University North Central Professor Dan Rutledge asks owners to tally the health of their businesses.

The questionnaire asks whether sales, operating costs, employment levels and other issues are getting worse, better or holding their own.

The results will help area businesses to determine where they stand in relation to each other, and within state, national and global economies.

"It encourages them to think outside their own internal box," said Rutledge, a business professor at the Westville campus. "They can become more involved and aware of the external environment."

The surveys began going out earlier this month to Greater Crown Point Chamber of Commerce members. Results will be revealed at a Nov. 8 Chamber luncheon at Strongbow Inn in Valparaiso.

Economic outlooks for the nation and region, as well as international trends in the global economy, will be part of the presentation.

Rutledge said he expects a response rate of about 9 percent, or about 100 businesses, the survey.

Identical surveys are going out to businesses in LaPorte and in Michigan City as part of the project by Purdue University North Central's College of Business.

The survey is a first for Valparaiso businesses but had been conducted three times since early 2006 in LaPorte and Michigan City, Rutledge said.

The LaPorte County communities will get their results separately at a Nov. 8 breakfast meeting.

With the results still out, Rutlege said he's not sure what to expect.

It's possible the two counties will fare differently in the survey results, Rutledge said.

"I've been told 'don't be surprised it there are different viewpoints,'" he said.