Karen Fischer & Stephen Morris
Ontario East Municipal Conference
September 2015
What is new with Business
Retention + Expansion Program

Regional Economic Development Branch
Core Purpose:
• To develop and deliver leading edge
economic development resources that
support a thriving rural Ontario.
2

Regional Economic Development Branch
Sessions at OEMC:
• Economic Development Strategic Planning
Wednesday September 16 | 11:15 a.m. – 12:15 p.m.
• Business Retention and Expansion (BR+E)
Thursday September 17 | 10:15 a.m. – 11:15 a.m.
• Community Development for Tiny Places
Thursday September 17 | 2:00 p.m. – 3:15 p.m.
3

Session Objectives
• Overview of the revised Business
Retention and Expansion Program
• Highlight findings of the BR+E survey
results from Eastern Ontario 2011-2015
• Share recent community examples
4

Please raise your hand if you have been
involved in a Business Retention and
Expansion project in your community?
5

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?
6

a Proven Economic
Development Process
7
 The BR+E program
was introduced in
1998 to Ontario and
over 230
communities have
participated
 Over 8,100
businesses have
been interviewed as
part of BR+E
projects across the
province

8
If economic
development strategies
were a family, business
retention and
expansion (BRE) would
be the hardworking,
reliable, but largely
unrecognized often
overlooked sibling…
Janet Ady
Economic 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
9

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
10

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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 ?
13
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 ?
14
Can provide an early warning system
 Assists communities in being proactive rather
than reactive
Improves the community’s self-
awareness

Address immediate
concerns
Short-Term Goals of BR+E
Build relationships
with existing
businesses
Build capacity
between
organizations
Identify positive &
negative attributes
Collect Data
Create Strategic
Action Plan
15

Long-Term Goals of BR+E
Increase
competitiveness
Enable
investment & job
creation
Foster the
environment for
business
development
16

Is right
for your Community?
17
New Seven Community Assessment Questions

2013 Program Review Process
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Collect
&
Analyze
Develop
Plans &
Priorities
Implement
& Monitor
Modify

Program 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
19

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

A Four Stage Process
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STAGE I
PREPARATION
STAGE II
COLLECT DATA
& ANALYZE
STAGE IV
IMPLEMENT &
MONITOR
STAGE III
DEVELOP GOALS
& ACTION PLANS

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
0
20
40
60
80
100
120
2008 2015
110
66

A Comprehensive Survey
23
Business Information
Business Climate
Future Plans
Business Development
Workforce
Community Development

Optional Sector Surveys
24
Tourism
Manufacturing
Agriculture
Downtown Revitalization/
Retail
Local Food

Executive Pulse System
25
Online Business Retention + Expansion data management
system

Provincial BR+E Survey Results -
Business Climate
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N=3,121 N=3,072

2011 to 2015
Eastern Ontario BR+E Survey Results

Context & Considerations
• Results are compiled from each of the communities
contributing data to the Executive Pulse system.
• The results include 16 projects and 550 surveys
undertaken between January 1, 2011 and August 1, 2015.
• When comparing results there are several factors to keep
in mind:
• Scope of the projects e.g. Local Food or Downtown
focus
• Timeframe of the project and the economic conditions
at that time
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Number of Eastern Ontario BR+E projects
30
0
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
2011 2012 2013 2014 2015
4
9
1 1
4

Impression of the community as a place to
do business
31
Poor
3%
Fair
16%
Good
54%
Excellent
27%
Number of respondents = 554

Change in attitude about doing business in
the community (past 3 years)
32
More
positive ,
23%
More
negative,
16%
No change ,
61%
N = 542

Future plans at this site (next 3 years)
33
0% 5% 10% 15% 20% 25% 30% 35% 40% 45% 50%
Close
Downsize
Relocate
Expand
Remain the Same
3%
5%
5%
42%
45%
N = 584

Including owner(s), how many employees
work at this location?
34
0% 10% 20% 30% 40% 50% 60%
1 - 4
5 - 9
10 - 19
20 - 29
30 - 49
50 - 99
100+
56%
19%
13%
4%
3%
2%
2%
N = 556

How many years has your business been in
operation in this community?
35
0% 5% 10% 15% 20% 25% 30%
Less than 1 year
1 to 3 years
4 to 10 years
11 to 25 years
26 to 35 years
Over 35 years
2%
13%
23%
26%
10%
26%
N = 556

36
95%
of owners are
involved in the
day-to-day
operation of the
business

88%
37
of owners are
residents of
the community

57%
of businesses
have a current
business plan
38

The number of people employed in this
business (past 3 years)
39
0% 10% 20% 30% 40% 50% 60%
Don't know
Decreased
Increased
Remain the same
1%
13%
30%
57%
N = 528

The Availability of Workers
40
0% 5% 10% 15% 20% 25% 30% 35% 40% 45%
No response
Poor
Fair
Good
Excellent
3%
23%
22%
41%
11%

How Businesses Rated the Quality of Life in
Eastern Ontario
41
0%
10%
20%
30%
40%
50%
60%
No response Poor Fair Good Excellent
0% 1%
4%
40%
55%
N = 530

How businesses rated the support from…
42
Municipalities Other Businesses Residents
0% 20% 40% 60%
Poor
Fair
Good
Excellent
4%
17%
49%
30%
0% 20% 40% 60%
No response
Poor
Fair
Good
Excellent
1%
8%
19%
56%
17%
0% 20% 40% 60%
No response
Poor
Fair
Good
Excellent
1%
15%
25%
45%
13%
N = 532

1 in 10
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businesses were aware
of another business
that may have been
interested in locating in
the community

BR+E Success Story
 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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Resources and Support
 Provincial Staff Advisors
 Coordinator Training
 Coordinator’s Manual
 Business Surveys
 Executive Pulse System
 Provincial BR+E Survey Results
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Coordinator Training
Updated two-part training program
• Part 1 – Preparing, Interviewing
and Addressing Immediate
Opportunities and Concerns (1.5
Days)
• November 25 & 26th in Prince
Edward County
• Part 2– Data Analysis, Reporting
and Implementing (1 Day)

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
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