In challenging economic times, some local businesses will have declining sales while others might weather the conditions well. In either case, understanding customer spending patterns and trends can be critical to business success. The 2009 topic for each occupational category is the development of marketing strategies based on the results of marketing research. Participants will conduct marketing research to identify how a company can improve its business and maintain and expand its current customer base. Based on the results of the research, the participants will develop a plan to implement their potential strategies to improve the business and maintain/ increase sales. Next, the participants will develop a plan to maintain/increase sales and provide a budget for the proposed plan.