No matter the size of the community or municipality, community leaders are all interested in building strong vibrant local communities. Businesses and the jobs they create are critical components of strong economies. Strong local economies cannot exist without a growing business/job creation sector. Supporting the development and growth of local businesses is fundamental to achieving this objective.
Strategies such as business recruitment, strategic alliances and partnerships, entrepreneurship, workforce development, downtown revitalization, tourism development etc. are often implemented as part of an overall economic development strategy. During the past number of years an increasing number of municipalities have begun to focus on providing greater support to their existing business sector. A variety of business visitation models have been implemented in an attempt to understand the needs of local businesses and thereby develop and implement actions to support the retention and growth of existing businesses.
