ACTION Swift Current

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ACTION Swift Current

• Unlocking opportunities for
• success in the new economy
• Implementing a BRE Program

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Presentation Format

• Economic Overview Southwest Sask.
• Innovation is Key to Business Success
• Community Action is Required
• The BRE Program is Key to Engaging Action
• The BRE Program Video Ontario
• The Formation of ACTION Swift Current

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Economic Overview Southwest

• Transition from rural to urban community
• Aging and declining population
• Rural business closures, loss of services
  facilities
• Declining confidence levels
• Intense global competition
• An undersized private sector
• Eroding primary production sector
• Declining tax base
• Heavy capital expenditures is required

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Economic Overview Swift Current

• Lack of growth in higher educated occupations
• Decline in youth population is accelerating
• Low proportion of university graduates
• Shortage of skilled workers
• Stagnant growth in aboriginal population
• Lack of senior care services and facilities
• Increasing senior population

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Innovation is Key to Success

• Studies of successful economies has shown
• Long term growth occurs due to sustained
  innovation in our private sector
• Effectiveness competitiveness are the key
  attributes for business success
• Successes will be reaped by those businesses with
  strong entrepreneurial skills

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Innovation is Key to Success

• Innovation is more likely the greater the
• Supply of well educated people
• Demand for quality in local markets
• Quality of educational institutions
• Research and development infrastructure
• Range and quality of businesses services
• Range of globally competent firms

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Innovation is Key to Success

• Obstacles inhibiting innovation
• Local officials and community lack long-term
  vision to invest in the necessary infrastructure
• Limited commitment to economic development
• Shortage of volunteers to work on initiatives
• Poor local self image defeatist attitudes
• Poor working relationships and lack of trust
  among development groups

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Innovation is Key to Success

• What is needed is a rebirth of the enterprise
  mentality
• When people risked everything and immigrated to
  Saskatchewan and created a better life
• It is time again for the business community to
  assume a leadership role in economic dev.

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Community Action is Required

• Communities need out of the box thinking
• Rural communities tend to think of big value
  -added agricultural projects as the communities
  only salvation
• These include
• hog barns - ethanol plants
• feed lots - processing facilities
• inland terminals

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Community Action is Required

• Communities need out of the box thinking
• Large projects have injected much need capital
  and activity in some Saskatchewan communities
• However this is not the cure all for every town

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Community Action is Required

• What rural communities need to do
• As the foundation for retention growth,
  communities need a series of
• small home-grown
• locally owned
• manufacturing, retail and service businesses

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Community Action is Required

• What rural communities need to do
• Communities are encouraged to
• build on their strengths
• rather than hitching their fortunes to one big
  project, company or industry
• Example pasta project

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Community Action is Required

• What Swift Current did in the past !
• In the past city groups used to pursue policies
  designed to attract outside firms in the area
• This strategy is not effective if existing
  businesses are not happy with the local climate
• While new firms come in the front door existing
  firms downsize or exit through the back door

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Community Action is Required

• Example - Other interest groups engaging
  community dialogue

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Community Action is Required

• What we have been getting is
• an under-developed wealth-generating sector
• a growing dependency factor
• A community with a stagnant population
  potentially leading to decline

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Community Action is Required

• What Swift Current wants to do
• Reconciliation between city and rural, private
  and public sectors, and many other institutions
• Achieve regionalism and make surrounding
  communities realize that by cooperating we can
  boost our economy and improve quality of life
• Build relationships to achieve revitalization and
  revenue for business
• Achieve a unified approach toward the communities
  direction to ensure the best path to success

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Community Action is Required

• We must achieve a working consensus
• Failure to achieve a working consensus on a
  communities direction is often characterized by
  the old saying
• If you keep doing what you are doing, you
  will keep getting what you are getting

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Community Action is Required

• What Swift Current is doing now !
• Swift Current has turned its attention to
• keeping existing industries and agribusiness
  enterprises future focused
• creating an environment where business retention
  expansion is a viable option

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Community Action is Required

• Existing business is important !
• They are the engine for economic growth
• They create approximately 60-80 of new jobs
• A healthy climate for existing business in turn
  attracts new business, helps main street
  revitalization, and creates an entrepreneurial
  culture

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What is the BRE Program

• The BRE program
• BRE is a local action model used to engage the
  community to work together
• BRE serves as a project management tool for its
  volunteers to implement initiatives
• BRE is about keeping and growing business in
  your own back yard

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What is the BRE Program

• BRE history
• BRE programs have been used in the USA for over
  20 years
• BRE grew out of the concern that too much
  emphasis in economic development was placed on
  attracting new firms
• BRE has recently seen interest internationally
  in countries such as Australia, Poland, Norway
  and Canada
• Canadian programs involve the provinces of New
  Brunswick, Ontario, British Columbia Sask.

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What is the BRE Program

• Goal in general
• Build a positive business environment for the
  success of local businesses and ultimately the
  success of the community

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What is the BRE Program

• Objectives short term
• Build cooperation and consensus among business,
  government community groups
• Accurately assess the needs of business
• Provide assistance and address immediate business
  concerns and opportunities
• Create a pro business attitude appreciation for
  each firms contribution to the local economy

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What is the BRE Program

• Objectives long term
• Develop an action plan for business growth and
  community development
• Engage community teams to implement projects
  identified in the action plan
• Build community capacity by involving different
  segments in a problem solving network
• Increase competitiveness of local business to
  sustain growth development

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What is the BRE Program

• BRE is an economic development strategy to work
  with your existing businesses
• BRE includes all efforts to encourage the
  survival of a communitys existing businesses

• Technical training
• Management Seminars
• Identify local sources of inputs
• Improve labor/ management relations
• Reduce costs and improve quality of local
  services
• Main street programs
• Improve school / work relationships
• Retain youth in the community

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The BRE 4 Stage Process
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The BRE 4 Stage Process

• In general for the community to
• ASK
• LISTEN
• RESPOND

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BRE Video

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Summary

• The BRE program helps communities
• Get organized to work cooperatively
• Get data on the problems and opportunities facing
  their business community
• Identify prioritize response and options
• Undertake high impact activities that can help
  local businesses survive and thrive

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BRE Successes

• BRE sounds interesting, but does it achieve
  tangible outcomes that are of benefit to business
  and the local economy?
• YES !

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BRE Successes

• Counties Prescot Russell, Ontario, Canada
• 3 businesses retained, 300 jobs saved
• An Industrial Development Officer was hired to
  work with the manufacturing sector and assist in
  export development
• A manufacturers network was established
• Import replacement of inputs for 4 local
  businesses
• Assisted 7 businesses to become export ready

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BRE Successes

• Counties Prescot Russell, Ontario, Canada
• Creation of a regional venture capital fund
• Establishment of an electronic database of
  manufacturers
• Linkage between the Ottawa high tech sector and
  local businesses- new contracts generated
• Business development seminars
• Telecommunications network improvement

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ACTION Swift Current Players

• Leadership Team Coordinators
• Overall
• Visitation
• Milestone
• Business Resource
• Media

• Task Force Team
• Volunteer Visitor Team
• BRE Consultants
• Survey Data Entry
• Report Writer
• Survey Review Panel

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ACTION Swift Current Players

• The Leadership Team
• Is comprised of individuals who will champion the
  project and motivate others to take action so the
  project can succeed

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ACTION Swift Current leadership team

• Business Owners
• City Councilors / Employees
• Chamber of Commerce
• Financial Legal Institutions
• Provincial Govt. Agencies
• Federal Govt. Agencies
• Crown Corporations

• Education Officials
• Business Leaders
• Agriculture Leaders
• Oil / Gas Leaders
• Social Leaders
• Religious Leaders
• Environmental Leaders

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ACTION Swift Current leadership team

• Canadian Waste Service
• Century 21
• Chamber of Commerce
• City of Swift Current
• Entrepreneurial Centre
• Humptys Restaurant
• Quest Management
• Pharmasave
• Pioneer Co-op Assoc.

• Royal Bank
• SW REDA
• Sask Tel
• Stark Marsh C.A firm
• Southwest Credit Union
• S.C. Ag Ex Assoc
• Sask Economic Dev.
• SW CFDC
• RM of Swift Current

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ACTION Swift Current success factors

• Factors for a successful BRE program
• Community readiness for economic development
• Community commitment to economic dev.
• Local champions to support the initiative
• Immediate follow up to identified urgent issues
• Maintaining community momentum
• Strong community and business leadership

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ACTION Swift Current success factors

• Ability to analyze survey data
• Ability to develop recommendations
• Ability to undertake projects cooperatively
• Dedicated volunteer base
• Quality business resource network
• Project coordinator dedicated to the project
• Ability to coordinate and facilitate the process
• Budget for the project

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ACTION Swift Current lessons learned

• Everyone has hit thresh-hold we need action
• Finger pointing is reduced
• Focus is now on finding solutions
• The private sector wants to provide solutions
• We are now understanding our own local economy
• Neutrality of identity and meeting locations

• Taking a chance, getting started with no budget
• Out of pocket cost is approx 35,000
• In kind contribution HUGE !
• Sponsored lunch meetings
• There are 4-5 meetings a month
• BRE consultants are still learning on the go
• Discovering gems (QVs) in the community

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Discussion

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Common Community Actions

• Publicize the areas business strengths
• Share information on development programs
• Continue the BRE program
• Promote local labor training or recruit labor
• Inform politicians of business concerns
• Start a business education partnership
• Upgrade the public infrastructure services
• Fund economic development staff
• Create a team that works on local development
  issues

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Common Community Actions

• Help firms access information services
• Provide business resource information in the
  form of business counseling and advisory
  services, business management training, and the
  promotion of opportunities

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Common Community Actions

• Improve labor availability productivity
• Explore a work force recruitment strategy
• Determine needed incumbent worker training
• Start a school business partnership program
• Sponsor employee retention educational efforts
• Explore options for retaining youth in the
  community

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Common Community Actions

• Help firms increase revenue markets
• Sponsor customer service training for business
• Educate businesses to use e-commerce to develop
  additional market share
• Have a design team beautify downtown
• Create incentives for businesses and building
  owners to beautify their buildings in the
  business district

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Common Community Actions

• Enhance the community quality of life
• Promote the high quality of life in the area
• Develop themed events for the community
• Develop a strong city or community web page
• Create opportunities to meet the needs of the
  aging population
• Look at options for creating more affordable
  housing for different users