Originally written by Paul Thares, former SDSU Extension Community Vitality Field Specialist.
This economic development strategy targets specific industries in your community. The Community Vitality team can analyze a county, community, or economic development organization’s situation and determine what training might be appropriate to meet their specific development needs.
Key components of the program include:
- Determining if BR&E is right for your community
- How to research, prioritize, and implement successful BR&E projects
- How to put together a BR&E leadership team
- How to train BR&E volunteers
- How to target specific industries such as tourism or agriculture
The Business Retention & Expansion Program starts with a survey of area businesses. In addition to finding those businesses’ strengths, the survey can identify potential “red flag” issues.
Once there is a good understanding of the current situation, program participants can start to look forward. BR&E can be used to help with:
- Workforce development decision making
- Making regional transportation decisions to assist manufacturers
- Coordination of entrepreneurial growth
- Succession planning for rural businesses
If you have questions about this article contact Paul Thares, SDSU Extension Community Vitality Field Specialist at the Lemmon Regional Center at 605.374.4177.
