Business Participation in Planning Economic Development Strategies A practitioner perspective 2018 EDCO Conference

What’s the Business Case for Engaging Business? Economic development success requires true partnership between business and government. Business retention and investment decisions directly impact your assessment base. Resilient communities play to their strengths and guard against their weaknesses. Seek to diversify organically. Authentic personal relationships are economic development gold.

Meaningful Participation What does ‘Meaningful Participation require? Stakeholder identification from many perspectives Opportunity for two–way communication Data and analysis and a place for personal perceptions – sniff test An ongoing conversation Mutual value proposition

Barriers to Gaining Business Engagement Low trust Lack of awareness Perceived low value/return on investment Cynicism Survey fatigue Lack of respect for their schedules or knowledge Wrong people at the table

Building Blocks of Meaningful Engagement A high profile economic development lens is consistently applied across every area of the municipality Relationship development is priority one Face to face, on the phone, email last resort Customer service – if your ec dev dept. was a business, would your products and services be in demand? Goals and objectives are clear and widely supported

Path to Long Term Success Celebrate their success! Offer genuine thanks for their contributions! Check assumptions always Inform the conversation, help business to help you by sharing data and analysis Understand their challenges and opportunities, give them a leg up Engage and inform Council, find ways for them to interact with more than the usual suspects Close the loop

Strategic Direction + 2017 Initiatives