A Business Retention and Expansion (BR+E) program is a process that municipalities undertake to better understand businesses in their communities and identify and support the current and future needs of its business community.
Community volunteers are trained to visit businesses and conduct confidential face-to-face interviews interviews with senior management and owners guided by a BR+E coordinator from the City’s Economic Development staff. Participation is completely voluntary and confidential.
It helps support businesses by helping a municipality to learn about issues as well as opportunities for local business and identifies priority projects that will address these needs.
It can target a particular business sector or can be applied broadly to all businesses. In the past, the City of Belleville has carried out BR+Es focused on Tourism, Construction and Health Care among many others.
The result is an Action Plan, which is presented at a public meeting. The Action Plan informs the City’s Economic Development Strategic Plan and investment attraction activities, as well as the City’s budget planning process.
A BR+E project is considered a best practice economic development tool that is used worldwide by municipalities to understand businesses in their community. The result is a final report and action plan presented at a public meeting that forms a key part of a municipalities’ ongoing economic development strategy. Through face-to-face interviews municipalities receive timely and important information to help identify and support the current and future needs of its business community
City of Belleville
BR+E projects
- Family physician recruitment program
- “Work in Quinte” labour attraction initiative
- Transportation improvements including intersection changes, new linkages, road improvements and transit routes.
- Infrastructure improvements including new water mains, increased water pressure, sanitary sewer extensions, fibre optic service extensions.
- Downtown Community Improvement Plans (CIP)
- Business Park signage installations
- Training programs with community partners geared to the needs of local business.
- 2012 -Manufacturing BR+E
2024 Manufacturing BR+E
In 2024, “Prosper Belleville” using the Ontario BR+E model.
The City of Belleville recently conducted a Manufacturing BR+E called “Prosper Belleville” which was aimed at gaining a better understanding the challenges and opportunities our manufacturers are facing in a post-COVID environment, and to support future business park planning.
Prosper Belleville was initiated in July of 2023 with funding support through the Rural Economic Development Fund. Economic development staff and a volunteer task force consisting of 28 volunteers, worked together to conduct extensive data collection through a number of interviews, surveys and industry visits. This work resulted in the following highlights:
- 746 hours invested by staff and volunteers
- 38 interviews and site visits conducted
- 86% industry participation rate
- 26 actionable items
BR+E includes in-person interviews with local manufacturing businesses to understand the challenges and benefits of doing business within the city of Belleville, and to learn about opportunities for supporting their growth and attracting new business to the region.
Volunteer task force members:
- Rick Jeffrey, Task Force Chair
- Chris King, Quinte Economic Development Commission
- Brian Pennell, Loyalist College
- Jill Raycroft, Belleville Chamber of Commerce
- Jack Alexander, Community Volunteer, member of the Committee of Adjustment
- Chris Ripley, Community Volunteer
- Barb Tait, Community Volunteer
Results
The task force committee recruited and trained 28 community volunteers to interview 38 out of 44 industry partners identified to participate in the Prosper Belleville BR+E. This represents an 86% participation rate overall and a very engaged audience. Interviews took place over a four-month period from October 2023 to January 2024.
Top 3 advantages of doing business in Belleville were:
- Proximity to 401
- Quality of life
- Welcoming business environment
As demographics change in the City of Belleville, responding manufacturers have made adjustments to the way they do business:
- Flexible work arrangements
- Supporting equity, diversity and inclusion
- Employment benefit programs
Top 3 ways that manufacturers indicated the community could assist were:
- Attracting/retaining labour
- Assistance with city services and processes
- Providing information and services
Top 3 disadvantages of doing business in Belleville:
- Labour/workforce issues
- Lack of affordable housing
- City services and processes
BR+E Implementation was approved in the 2025 Operating Budget (D6-9) for $20,600.
Action items
The BR+E report proposed 26 action items which focus primarily on attracting, retaining and increasing the supply of manufacturing labour in Belleville, including helping employers use immigration programs that lead to PR status and promoting manufacturing as a viable career to Belleville’s youth and promoting Belleville as a great place to live.
The final step of the Proper Belleville Manufacturing BR+E is to implement the action items outlined in the final report, over the next 3-5 years.
The City, through its Economic Development Division is committed to working with community stakeholders to implement the Prosper Belleville Manufacturing BR+E Action items and will continuously monitor the progress of these actions and report on what has been accomplished, what remains to be done and any challenges to implementation.
The need for additional industrial land was identified as a key action item through the recent Business Retention and Expansion (BR+E) survey conducted with Belleville manufacturers.
Newcomer supports
Attraction & retention
It recommends the City continue with a number of programs including the Bridge Integrated Care Hub, doctor recruitment and community clean-up initiatives.
It also points out the need for diverse housing solutions to address the lack of housing available for employees and asks the City to improve the transparency and understanding of their development processes.
Business supports
City processes and services
- Newcomer Supports: 2 out of 5 action items underway
- Labour Attraction & Retention: 4 out of 8 items underway, with 1 item completed.
- Business Supports: 0 out of 2 underway (Timeline: Q4 2025-Q4 2028)
- City Processes & Services: 9 out of 11 action items underway
Contact
If you have questions or want to learn how you can get involved, please contact Victoria Watts, Business Growth and Retention Specialist at 613-967-5260 or email: [email protected].
