Most New Jobs Come from Within the Community

Posted by on June 20, 2017

Did you know that 80% of job growth comes from within your community?  80% of all new jobs created are through business startup, retention and expansion.  Crazy isn’t it?

Actually, it’s not all that crazy.  Those who are familiar with the community, its culture and business climate are more likely to invest there.  Look at it like one of your customers.  Have you ever figured out the cost to attract a new customer versus retain and grow an existing one.  If you have, you know that the cost to attract a new customer is considerably higher, often ten times higher!  You have built a relationship with your current customer, and therefore are in the best position to keep them satisfied and even “up sell” them on additional products or services.

It is no different in economic development. In fact, the following definition (source: BRE.guru) is one used to define customer retention for a business.  As you can see, with little adjustment denoted by parenthesis it also defines retention and expansion from an economic development standpoint.

“Customer retention (business retention and expansion) is the activity that a selling organization (economic or workforce development agency) undertakes in order to reduce customer defections (loss of private sector businesses). Successful customer retention (business retention and expansion) starts with the first contact an organization (economic or workforce development agency) has with a customer (private sector business) and continues throughout the entire lifetime of a relationship. A company’s (market area’s) ability to attract and retain new customers (through entrepreneurial development and business recruitment), is not only related to its product or services (community assets), but strongly related to the way it services its existing customers (existing private sector businesses) and the reputation it creates within and across the marketplace (trading area, region, province or state).”

At the Lake Superior Community Partnership, we believe in Business Retention and Expansion or BRE. Our business development team is trained through the International Economic Development Council (IEDC) in this specific area and approximately 75-80% of our resources are spent on BRE. Why is it so important to us?  Here are a few key reasons:

  • 80% of job growth comes from existing companies
  • Data and intel gathered from visits shape economic development strategy to overcome challenges and take advantage of opportunities
  • BRE programming allows you to build strong relationships with your businesses, encouraging them to reach out to you in times of need
  • Prospective businesses looking at your community (business attraction) want to understand how existing businesses are treated thus making BRE a significant component of successful business attraction
  • Replacing a business in your community costs as much as ten times more than retaining one
  • Our economic development success depends on relationships; face to face communication being the highest value interaction

We know, you don’t want to fill out a survey or have us sit in front of you, ask a list of questions just to mark a box “yes” or “no”.  Neither do we.  We want a free flowing discussion that allows us to get to know each other. Allows us to get to know your business. How about what keeps you up at night? Or the “If I only had ____ I could double the size of my facility.”  It’s about developing a relationship.

As we get to know your business better, we can offer assistance in a variety of ways.  Perhaps there is local, state or federal program you should be involved in. Maybe you just need an introduction to someone somewhere. Are one of the many LSCP business resources available appropriate for you to take advantage of? Concerned about some public policy coming down the pike?  These are just a few of the ways we can play a role in your business success.

The LSCP does hundreds of these visits every year, which are strictly confidential. So when our business development team calls, please make time in your busy schedule to sit down with us. You will be happy you did.

For more information on the LSCP visit marquette.org. If you are interested in scheduling a retention visit please call  906.226.6591 or email lscp@marquette.org.

Amy Clickner, CEO, writes a bi-weekly column for the Mining Journal.

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