Ontario Association of Community Future Development Corporations Annual Conference

September 2015

CFDC's Involvement in Business Retention + Expansion

Sessions Objectives• Provide an overview of the revised

Business Retention and Expansion Program (BR+E)

• Share lessons learned and successes from recent CFDC BR+E projects

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Please raise your hand if you have been involved in a Business

Retention and Expansion project in your community?

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Please write down your answer to the following question on the

sticky note provided:

What are the first words that come to mind when you think about

business retention and expansion?

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What do you feel are the benefits of Business retention and expansion?

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Regional Economic Development Branch

Core Purpose: • To develop and deliver leading edge

economic development resources that support a thriving rural Ontario.

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a Proven Economic Development Process

The BR+E program was introduced in 1998

Since 2009, over 3,100 businesses have been interviewed as part of 73 BR+E projects

2013 Review Process

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Collect &

Analyze

Develop Plans & Priorities

Implement &

Monitor

Modify

Review Findings

Successes to Build on:

• Acting on Results• Monitoring

outcomes of their action plans

• Training• Staff support

Challenges to Address:

• Survey• Database system• Data Analysis &

Reporting

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If economic development strategies were a family, business retention and expansion (BRE) would be the hardworking, reliable, but largely unrecognized often overlooked sibling…Janet AdyEconomic Development and Site Selection Consultant

What is ? An action-oriented and community-based

approach to business and economic development

Focuses on nurturing existing businesses

Helps communities to prioritize their efforts

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What is ? Trained volunteers to conduct confidential interviews

Data analysis and action planning to address issues and opportunities

Ideally, it is incorporated into the community’s ongoing economic development strategy

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Why undertake a ?

Existing businesses create more jobs 74% - 90% of new jobs Investment attraction is expensive and difficult

due to high volume of competition

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Existing businesses are already invested in the community Existing businesses have a stake Easier and less expensive for communities

to retain than to attract

Why undertake a ?

Why undertake a ?

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Existing businesses can be ambassadors for the community Can support business attraction efforts Existing and growing businesses may be

targets of other communities’ recruitment efforts so it is important that they feel supported

“A community’s best companies are your competitor’s best prospects” Eric Canada

Why undertake a ?

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Can provide an early warning system Assists communities in being proactive

rather than reactiveImproves the community’s self-awareness

A Four Stage Process

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STAGE I PREPARATION

STAGE IICOLLECT DATA& ANALYZE

STAGE IV IMPLEMENT & MONITOR

STAGE IIIDEVELOP GOALS& ACTION PLANS

CFDC’s Recent Involvement in BR+E

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CFDC’s involvement with BR+E

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Chukuni Community Development Corporation

Supports Ear Falls, Red Lake and the surrounding area.Project Overview• Two separate projects• Ear Falls project

completed in June 2015, 25 businesses interviewed

• Final report submitted to Township

• Red Lake project underway, 28 businesses interviewed

Greenstone Economic Development Corporation

Serves the municipality of Greenstone (one of the largest in Canada).Project Overview• May 2013-April 2014• All sectors interviewed• Stakeholder committee

with 17 representatives

• 49 businesses interviewed

• Final report had 59 recommendations

Wellington-Waterloo CFDCServes the rural townships of Waterloo regional and the County of Wellington (excluding Wellington North and Minto)Project Overview• 7 municipalities• 4 targeted sectors

(Agriculture, Manufacturing, Healthcare and Creative Econ)

• Project leadership team County ED group host by CFDC

• 280 Businesses interviewed

Why did you become involved in BR+E

What was your role

WWCFDC • 2007 Strategic plan found business in the community were not engaged

• The County of Wellington lead the project. CFDC provided funding and people

Greenstone EDC

• GEDC first conducted BR+E in 2003

• BR+E began in 2013 as business climate has changed greater

• GEDC lead the project

Chukuni CDC • CCDC completed BR+E projects for Red Lake and Ear Falls in 2003. It was time to update

• CCDC hire by Ear Falls to complete the project

• CCDC completing the Red Lake project without financial assistance

Challenges/ Lessons learned

WWCFDC • Coordinating seven member municipalities to meet timelines (they were responsible for interviewing)

• Communication during the project was at times a challenge

Greenstone EDC • Coordinator was not local so people were more apt to divulge information

• Sector specific surveys posed a challenge with too small sample sizes to release information

Chukuni CDC • The areas is quite small so very difficult to find volunteers

• Had funding for an Intern but were unable to fill it

SOUTH SIMCOE

BUSINESS RETENTION AND EXPANSION PROJECT

M A N U F A C T U R I N G S E C T O R

A W I N / W I N P R O P O S I T I O N

THE BR+E EXPERIENCE

South Simcoe One Region Five MunicipalitiesManufacturing Sector

HISTORICALLY SPEAKING

Since 1998, Nottawasaga Futures has engaged in eight BR&E projects for the five municipalities that make up South Simcoe.

Participation results:Over 300 businesses surveyed195 participants involved in 8 Task ForcesOver 350 volunteers

HISTORICALLY SPEAKING

96% of the businesses surveyed had either Red Flag issues or requests for information or support

As a result of the follow up on these issues, invaluable connections were made between the community and local business

MANUFACTURING SECTOR OVERVIEW

In 2014, the Manufacturing sector accounted for 18.8% of all jobs in South Simcoe, making it the largest employment sector in the region.

THE BR+E EXPERIENCE

128 businesses were selected as a representative sample for the region.

45 businesses agreed to participate in the survey.

The South Simcoe Manufacturing Sector

PARTICIPANTS BY MUNICIPALITY

Adjala-Tosorontio13%

Bradford West Gwillimbury24%

Township of Essa4%

Town of Innisfil20%

Town of New Tecumseth 39%

THE PROCESS

Letters were sent to all manufacturing businesses introducing the South Simcoe Manufacturing BR+E

Letters were followed up with telephone calls and emails

Members of the task force conducted interviews partnered with a certified BR+E consultant from Nottawasaga Futures

THE PROCESS

Red Flag issues were directed to a designated “point person” identified by each municipality

Requests for information were facilitated by the Nottawasaga Futures Business Excellence Resource Centre

Municipal staff and industry experts were consulted as required

CHALLENGES AND LESSONS LEARNED

Struggles with uptake – Innisfil Project

Paper mail vs email

Importance of a good data base

Benefit of involving municipality, added credibility

INTERNET RELATED BARRIERS

One of the issues at the forefront of businesses concern across South Simcoe was that of poor internet services.

¾ of respondents indicated that they are facing technology barriers from either internet access, internet cost or internet speed.

SUCCESSFUL OUTCOMES

Regional roundtable event hosted by the County of Simcoe to discuss collaboration on regional issues

Collaborative municipal workshops developed to address survey requests

THANK YOU

Ontario Ministry of Agriculture ,Food and Rural Affairs

The County of Simcoe The Township of Adjala-Tosorontio The Town of Bradford West GwillimburyThe Township of Essa The Town of Innisfil The Town of New Tecumseth

Do you have any suggestions/tips on how

these challenges could be addressed?

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Proud aspects of the project

Successes

WWCFDC • Brought the seven municipalities together

• County approved a $175,000 Implementation Fund for the municipalities

• More open dialogue with the business community

• Issues identified• Hydro outage issues• Business unaware of

services• Need to market the

county as a whole• New online business

directory• Business resource breakfast

Greenstone EDC

• 49 of 182 businesses surveyed

• Report supported local strategic planning and highlighted at Community Leaders Luncheon

• 13 businesses were planning to expand

• Succession Planning Workshop

• 2014 Grow Greenstone presentation

• New Tourism strategy being undertaken by municipality (encompasses many recommendations

• Continuous tracking of recommendation by GEDC

Chukuni CDC

• Too early on in the project

Is rightfor your Community?

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New Seven Community Assessment Questions

Resources and Support

Coordinator’s Manual Business Surveys Executive Pulse System Provincial BR+E Survey Results Coordinator Training Provincial Staff Advisors

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New Coordinator Manual

Step-by-step process with a greater emphasis on:• Project design • Performance measures• Data analysis • Priority setting

BR+E Survey Review

Question review principles:

• Assist with strategic planning

• Identify specific business growth or retention opportunities

• Provide general business information

Number of questions in the retention survey

2008 20150

20

40

60

80

100

120 110

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A Comprehensive Survey

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Business Information

Business Climate

Future Plans

Business Development

Workforce

Community Development

Optional Sector Surveys

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Tourism

Manufacturing

Agriculture

Downtown Revitalization/ RetailLocal Food

Executive Pulse System

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Online Business Retention + Expansion data management system

Provincial BR+E Survey Results -Business Climate

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N=3,121 N=3,072

Coordinator TrainingUpdated two-part training program

• Part 1 – Preparing, Interviewing and Addressing Immediate opportunities and concerns (1.5 Days)

• November 25-26 Prince Edward County

• Part 2– Data Analysis, Reporting and Implementing (1 Day)

Success Story: Northumberland

Regional Local Food BR+E project undertaken in 2012

Identified a need for value added food processing

2014-15 creation of a 15,000 sq. ft. facility. $1.1M investment

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Success Story: Northumberland

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For More Information Visit our website to

request a copy of the BR+E Coordinator’s Manual or to register for training http://ontario.ca/b34h

Talk to your Provincial Regional Advisor

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Questions

This presentation will be available at:www.onregionalecdev.com

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