Page 65 - FDI Alliance International Magazine. Winter 2020 Digital Interactive Issue.

the globe to ensure that they have the tools and directly engaged, more than 350 businesses their workforce and greater pride in their local
capability of launching and running a quality surveyed, and over $300,000 in grants and community.
BRE program to support their local and existing loans distributed before $4 million in locally
businesses. administered CARES Act funding became Economic developers and municipalities across
available. the globe would be wise in adopting and
One such program exists with the Hancock prioritizing business retention and expansion
County Port and Harbor Commission in Examples like these are found across the globe, efforts to grow and retain these existing
Hancock County, Mississippi, USA. In 2017, as municipalities are recognizing the tremendous businesses as an essential component of their

they launched the “Hancock County Aerospace need to retain and grow their existing businesses. local communities.
Strategy Initiative.” As a result of this project and This, in turn, promotes greater diversity among
its master planning efforts, the Commission
can now deliver tangible capital improvement
projects and site development via marketing RYAN KELLY
materials to relevant parties. This includes least EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR,
cost development scenarios to mitigate speed BUSINESS RETENTION & EXPANSION
to market, environmental and budget variables, INTERNATIONAL
but it also prioritized real investments at Stennis
International Airport (KHSA) with projects in
various stages of completion.
601.602.8074 ryan.kelly@brei.org
Through implementation of this strategy, existing
industry has shown investment through recent
announcements, including Relativity Space with
200 new jobs and more than $65 million in
capital investment and Lockheed Martin Space
Systems with 30 new jobs and $30 million in
capital investment.

Another such example of a quality BRE project is
with Dufferin Economic Development in Dufferin
County, Ontario, Canada. The project, “Food
for Thought,” engaged Dufferin County’s
Agriculture and Food business community in an
effort to gain valuable insight around the sector’s
immediate and future needs, and determine
how to support positive change in an effort to
enhance the business environment as it pertains
to agriculture and food in Dufferin County. This
project resulted in a growing collaboration
from a wide variety of community groups and
businesses working together.

One final example is with Norfolk Department
of Economic Development in Norfolk, Virginia,
USA. Their project, “COVID-19 Business
Retention and Recovery Campaign,” was a
multifaceted effort designed to position Norfolk
for a successful recovery from the COVID-19
disaster. Project components included: a large-
scale outreach campaign primarily to small
businesses, the immediate creation of the
Norfolk Economic Disaster Assistance Loan &
Grant products, and an integrated marketing
communications effort coupled with the long-
term support of businesses identified as “at-risk”
for closure.

The Outreach team was able to identify 210
“at-risk” businesses to be monitored and
extensively supported with wrap-around services
and enhanced resources for a 12 to 18 month
period, with a tentative conclusion date of
June 2021. The campaign was an incredibly
robust effort resulting in over 1,000 businesses

CEOS KNOW YOUR PURPOSE
➡ 65. FDI ALLIANCE INTERNATIONAL