The Business Retention and Expansion (BR & E) initiative is a community based economic development tool that promotes job growth by helping community leaders identify the barriers to survival and growth facing local businesses.  It is a formalized, action oriented, volunteer-driven process for learning about the issues and concerns of local businesses and for setting priorities for projects to address these needs. 

The Department of Innovation, Trade and Rural Development (INTRD), Service Canada, and the Atlantic Canada Opportunities Agency (ACOA) have partnered in carrying out 24 BR & E projects across the Province of Newfoundland & Labrador.

The BR & E consists of four main stages:

1. A visitation interview of a representative sample firms in the region to identify the concerns and barriers to survival and growth facing local businesses;
2. Immediate follow-up by Taskforce members of urgent “red flag” concerns identified during the visits (e.g. a business contemplating closure or relocation);
3. Strategic planning including the identification of priority issues stemming from the interview findings and the development of action plans to address these issues;
4. Implementation of the action plans by implementation team.

The Deer Lake Chamber of Commerce with assistance of the Humber Economic Development Board (HEDB) Inc. spearheaded the BR & E project in the Humber Valley Region in 2005.  A total of 56 businesses were surveyed starting in March 2005 till December 2005 on a number of topic areas and dealt with the following sets of issues:

1. General Business
2. Human Resources
3. Markets & Marketing Strategy
4. Technology
5. Financial
6. Suppliers
7. Region, Municipality, and Current Location
8. Future Plans
9. Information Assistance

The final report was completed in June 2006 and presented at the Chamber’s Annual General Meeting on October 12, 2006.  On Saturday, November 3, 2006, the local BR & E Leadership Team held a strategic planning session to prioritize issues arising from the business interview findings and develop a realistic action plan.

The Leadership Team recommended three major initiatives to be coordinated by the Deer Lake Chamber of Commerce in response to BR & E findings.  These included: (1) A Business Builder Seminar Series; (2) An On-Line Business Directory; and (3) Human Resource Needs Assessment and Support Identification Proposal.  These initiatives are led by board members of the DLCC with support from a local committee.  

View the Deer Lake Chamber of Commerce Business Retention & Expansion Action Plan - click here

View the Deer Lake Chamber of Commerce Business Retention & Expansion Training Brochure - click here

The Business Building Seminars include:

1. Sales & Merchandising 101 - click here for PDF presentation
   
   
2. Interview Skills - click here for PDF presentation
   
   
3. Presentations
   
   - Strategic Marketing Process - click here for PDF presentation
   - Marketing - click here for PDF presentation
   - Presentation C - click here for PDF presentation (coming soon)
   
   
4. Financial Sources Seminar - click here for PDF presentation