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The City of Pembroke is launching a project this fall to better understand the needs of members of its business community.
The Business Retention and Expansion (BR+E) project is a community-wide effort that emphasizes personal business visits to identify the needs of Pembroke’s existing businesses. Led by the City of Pembroke and supported by volunteers from the Pembroke Economic Development Advisory Committee and other regional business support agencies, this project will focus on the City’s manufacturing sector and independent entrepreneurs.
“The City last conducted a BR+E project in 2017 and it greatly helped us identify specific goals and actions to support our business community,” says Mayor Ron Gervais. “With all the changes that came with COVID and moving forward from it, now is a good time to reassess the local business climate and see how the City can continue to support and retain local businesses.”
From the interviews, the City wants to learn about challenges as well as opportunities for local businesses and set priorities in an action plan to address those needs. The focus of this particular project is on assisting existing businesses rather than attracting new ones because existing businesses account for about 70 percent of all new jobs.
“We are looking forward to meeting one-on-one with our business leaders in these two sectors,” says volunteer Terry Lapierre, Pembroke Economic Development Advisory Committee chair. “The personal and confidential interaction will really help us understand what exactly these businesses are experiencing.”
Project Coordinator Angela Siebarth and project volunteers will conduct the confidential business interviews this winter. Businesses should expect to receive a letter asking them to participate in the project later this fall. If you are a business that is interested in participating but did not receive a letter, please contact Angela Siebarth at 613-735-6821 ext. 1525 or asiebarth@pembroke.ca.
This project is funded in part by the Ontario Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs.
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