A Submission from the City of Port Colborne in Niagara, Ontario
The City of Port Colborne has begun two major community economic development projects through the Economic Development, Tourism & Marketing Department. The Business Retention and Expansion (BR+E) project, is designed to stimulate economic development and growth by assisting existing businesses. This project will also be done alongside a Skills Inventory project that will survey residents and high school students across Port Colborne.
Port Colborne Mayor Vance Badawey
“These projects play an important part in the City’s priority of business expansion and retention while looking for ways to connect our residents to good jobs in Port Colborne,” said Mayor Vance Badawey. “By getting out into the businesses and manufacturers across our City and hearing the actual needs and concerns of business owners in Port Colborne, we can better understand what we need to do to make this an even better place to do business.”
“Helping our existing businesses is the primary objective of the project. Many of Ontario’s most successful communities have had very good results with BR+E and Skills Inventory projects,” said Stephen Thompson, General Manager & Director of Economic Development, Tourism & Marketing with the City of Port Colborne. “Before considering these projects, we talked to community leaders in several other areas that have used a similar approach to communicating with residents and businesses in their communities. They were very positive about the results.”
To be most effective in assisting existing businesses, the City is working to identify the businesses’ needs, concerns, and problems. Through the BR+E project led by the City of Port Colborne, the Project Manager will visit businesses and gather this vital information. The local community leaders running the program will then try to solve the problems or better meet those needs identified by the businesses through actions that will improve the business climate in Port Colborne.
“A key aspect of this project is confidentiality,” according to Samir Husika, Project Manager for Business Retention and Expansion with the City of Port Colborne. “We do not share information on individual businesses or residents. The project is very careful about this confidentiality issue.”
The information gathered from the business visits and surveys of residents will be compiled and analyzed, with follow up meetings with businesses taking place to provide additional assistance. The Project Manager and volunteer committees will then review this analysis and then write recommendations for future economic development initiatives for Port Colborne. “One of the reasons for the popularity of the BR+E project is that it not only provides a long range plan for the community but also yields some short-range tangible results,” said Husika.
Notices will be sent out to businesses selected for the BR+E project with both the BR+E and Skills Inventory projects set to begin this fall. Businesses wishing to participate in the BR+E project may contact Samir Husika, the Project Manager for Business Retention and Expansion with the City of Port Colborne at 905-834-1668 ext. 505 or by email at samirhusika@portcolborne.ca.
(Niagara At Large encourages visitors to this site to join in the discussion on events and issues affecting our communities in the Greater Niagara Region by sharing their views below.)
Niagara At Large 