Business Retention and Expansion International

BREI is pleased to announce the creation of a BREI Consultant / Vendor Directory.  Based on demand from our members, this directory is open at no charge to BREI members, preferably those who have obtained their BRE Coordinator (or greater) certification or a like-certification from a peer organization.  This directory will include the primary contact name, a description of services available, and contact information to learn more.  If you are ready to apply for inclusion, please e-mail this information to Ryan Kelly at Ryan.Kelly@brei.org.  This is an on-going proposal, so there is no deadline in order to participate.  

The BREI Education Committee invites proposals for continuing education courses and webinars to be presented online. Continuing education courses should be of substantive material and should be developed in such a way so as to be presented in one, two, or three two-hour interactive, online sessions using the BREI videoconference platform (at the present time, this platform is Zoom).

The proposal should consist of the course name or topic, the objectives of the course (what the instructor is hoping to accomplish with the course), an outline or syllabus depicting the various topics to be covered and the approximate length of time spent on each topic, the name(s) of likely instructor(s) for the course, and the approximate time (date) for the course to be conducted. These materials are subject to review by the BREI Education Committee to confirm the appropriateness of the course for the membership.

Webinar topics should be approximately one hour in length and should provide an overview of a topic that would be of interest to BREI members. Webinar proposals should consist of the webinar name or topic, a brief narrative outlining the material to be covered, the name(s) of likely instructor(s) for the webinar, and the approximate time (date) for the webinar to be conducted. As with the courses, these materials are subject to review by the BREI Education Committee to confirm the appropriateness of the webinar for the membership.

The attached document (A Guide for Developing Online Courses) may be of use in developing the proposal.

Instructors receive credit for the BREI participation portion of the requirements for renewal as a BR&E Coordinator or certification or certification renewal as a BR&E Professional. Instructors are also eligible for 50 percent of the course registration fees (not including membership dues) for teaching the course up to a maximum of $5,000 per offered course.

Course and webinar proposals will be considered on a continual basis. Please submit all materials in Word document format to:

Alan Barefield

BREI Education Committee Chair, alan.barefield@msstate.edu

Nearly 100 business retention and expansion professionals attendees the 2023 BREI Annual Conference in Grande Prairie, Alberta.  Attendance consisted of a mix of both in-person and virtual attendees.  Expert speakers from across Canada, the US, and Australia made up an agenda that provided attendees with expert strategies and updates to the field of BRE.  

Topics included workforce innovation, housing, combating brain drain, supply chain management, artificial intelligence, business continuity and much more.  In addition, the popular Fundamentals Course was held in-person for the first time since 2019.

During the annual business meeting, new officers were inducted including:

2023-2024 President
Dennis Williamson II, PCED, BREC, CWDP
Fort Smith, Arkansas

At Large

Tim Smith, BREC
Longview, Texas

Melody Lockwood, CEcD
Baton Rouge, Louisiana

Alia Abbas, BREC
Toronto, Ontario

The BREI Awards of Excellence were also distributed to deserving applicants, including:

Outstanding Single Community With a Population Under 20,000 + Impact Award
Kilgore Economic Development Corporation
Kilgore, Texas
Project: Halliburton Property Redevelopment/Skeeter Boats Expansion

Outstanding Single Community With a Population 20,000-50,000
Town of Okotoks
Okotoks, Alberta
Project: Town of Okotoks Success Stories Program

Outstanding Single Community With a Population Over 50,000
City of Converse Economic Development Corporation
Converse, Texas
Project: BRE Regional Partnership

Outstanding Multi Community With a Population Under 50,000
Town of Edson and Community Futures West Yellowhead (CFWY)
Edson, Alberta
Project: Community Futures West Yellowhead Regional Triage Report

2022-2023 president Jason Guidry, BREP, delivered remarks throughout the conference and emceed along with board members Tara de Munnik, BREC, and Alan Barefield, PhD, MBREP.  Hetti Hulls served as the chair of the conference committee, which put in tireless hours preparing the conference and assisting with the on-site logistics.

BREI is thankful for all participants and the work of the board and planning committee to make this conference a success.  The date and location of the 2024 conference will be announced soon.

Business Retention and Expansion International is pleased to award four organizations with its Awards of Excellence for 2022. 

The BREI Awards of Excellence are given to economic development organizations, municipalities and/or states or provinces who have demonstrated an outstanding usage of business retention and expansion strategies and tactics for growing and sustaining small businesses.

Award winners for 2022 are as follows:

Outstanding Single Community with a Population under 20,000

Town of Morinville, Morinville, Alberta

Project: Revitalizing an Aging Asset into an Economic Engine

The Town of Morinville had an innovative approach for utilizing a replaced multi-decade old arena. Many small communities face similar issues with aging recreation and tourism infrastructure.

Uniquely, the Town sold the arena to private interests. Although sitting dormant due to the pandemic, it resold in 2021 and is now attracting thousands of visitors per year, creating a huge attraction audience for the Town, and generating over $6,000,000 in annual economic spin off. 

The new owners reenergized the site and increased neighborhood vibrancy, attracting offshoot events and activities that coincide with arena programming as well as public investment in adjacent destination area infrastructure. This is an economic contribution that likely would not have been evident given the likelihood of demolition of the arena as originally considered by Town Council. 

The Town markets the two arena properties in alignment with its master plans via social media and strategic bidding with two key pillars: 

1. Differentiation: multiple operational ice surfaces. 

2. Collaboration: regionally partner with other arenas on larger events. 

New ownership marketing is undertaken through a subsidiary, which develops, produces, licenses, and distributes its sport and entertainment content. Averaging 1,200 views per episode, high production value streaming of games, events, and tournaments using NHL modeled deliveries coupled with strategic presence on social media channels leverages and promotes its product in Morinville to audiences worldwide. 

Outstanding Single Community With a Population Over 50,000

Project: Strathcona County -Triage BR+E (Business Retention and Expansion) 

Strathcona County reviewed how it can best take action to support the plans and needs of its local businesses, to assist in planning economic development activities.  

Input from Strathcona County’s local business owners and managers was essential to understanding top priorities. This was completed through a survey and follow-up interviews featuring work from MDB Insights/ Deloitte. Of the 400 businesses surveyed, 176 were flagged as either red: 93 businesses (risk of closing, selling relocating or downsizing); or green: 83 businesses (expanding). 115 authorized a follow-up interview.  

Results informed a report on priority areas for economic development activities, such as policy and programs.  Action items will be shared with various departments. This project helped Strathcona County form and build relationships in the community.

Outstanding Multi Community With a Population 50,000 – 100,000

Huron County Economic Development Department, Goderich, Ontario

Project: Huron County Business Retention & Expansion Project

Due to the covid pandemic, surveys were to be completed by business respondents remotely, requiring extensive marketing and communication to ensure the purpose of the project was effectively conveyed, while providing sufficient instructions on how to complete and return the survey

A media release was issued by the Huron County Communications team to coincide with the onset of the surveying phase, providing marketing materials to various local media outlets, social media channels, radio stations, etc.

Due to COVID, the project adjusted to respond to volunteer and business owner concerns about face-to-face interviews. The BR&E team created mail out surveys and distributed them to 3,360 businesses across the county. Volunteers were trained to conduct phone calls to follow up on the mailed surveys. The 3,360 mailed surveys were followed up with volunteer calls encouraging businesses to complete the survey. Volunteers also explained the importance of the survey project and the impact it could have. A second round of surveys was sent 1-3 months after the first survey to try to increase the response rate. Feedback was provided to OMAFRA on changes that could be made to the survey to make it more impactful when delivered by mail.

Impact Award

Corporation of the City of North Bay, North Bay, Ontario

Project: Business Retention & Expansion Initiative

The BR+E program was introduced to the community though a marketing and communications plan that was developed using multiple avenues including radio and digital media. Digital geofencing provided targeted, location-based marketing used to reach a specific audience for BR+E engagement. A local media service provider was hired to design relevant messages that would be sent to smartphone users who entered a predetermined boundary or geographic area. In addition, a media launch was prepared to announce the program’s start, acknowledge community partners, and provide the public with background information on the program’s structure and value to local business retention and growth.

Ryan Kelly, BREI executive director, stated that, “we are very proud of the hard work and dedication of these economic developers with their demonstration of business retention and expansion excellence.  Supporting growth of community businesses is paramount to having a successful and vibrant workforce and economy.  We encourage all members to learn from these award recipients as they work to find new ideas and integrate them into existing programs”

Award recipients were recognized during the 2022 annual business meeting and received a plaque of recognition.

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