Antigonish Regional Development Authority, where ideas take root

RDA best practice: ARDA’s BRE Prioritization Matrix

When ARDA began their new Business Retention and Expansion (BRE) program in April 2009, there was no method or process established when it came to choosing businesses to visit. The first task was to create one.

“Among the first things I did when I was hired was to get in touch with other account executives in the province in search of best practices,” says Alana Paon the BRE account executive at ARDA. “From meeting with them and hearing about their programs, I realized everyone seemed to have different methods for choosing which businesses to visit.”

Alana, who was new to the Antigonish community, immediately went down the hall to visit Brian Patton, business analyst with Northern Opportunities for Business Limited (NOBL). “I knew that as a member of our BRE local action team and as our NOBL representative Brian had his ear to the ground in the community.” Together the duo created a prioritization matrix that would act as an organizational tool for businesses to be visited.

The prioritization matrix is based on a protocol system where there are six categories in which businesses are rated using numerical values. The higher the value a business has means the higher up it is on the priority list. There are six categories within the matrix for 2009/2010: community contribution, market loss due to highway relocation, economic trends, growth potential, demographics, and critical issues.

“The different criteria identified in the matrix and accompanying scoring system allows for scheduling BRE visits that set a high priority on locally owned and operated entities, and assists in the best use of scarce resources in the implementation of the BRE program,” says Donnie Cameron, development officer for the northern region with Nova Scotia Economic and Rural Development.

“With prioritized visits our referral rates are now two and a half times higher than our original annual program targets,” says Alana. “It makes us accountable to our stakeholders and ensures objectivity to the process. When someone asks me why I visited business A instead of business B I can explain the reasoning behind it.”

“I believe that ARDA has developed a good tool in its prioritization matrix particularly for setting a schedule for future BRE visits,” says Donnie. “This tool could be used by BRE account executives in other regions so that maximum benefits are realized and best practices are shared.”

Above Photo Caption:
The BRE Local Action Team: (back left) Martin Walker – Program Manager, Business Retention and Expansion, Donnie Cameron – N.S. Economic & Rural Development, Lorraine Boyd –  Nova Scotia Business Inc., Brian Patton – Northern Opportunities for Business Limited, Chris Storseth – Atlantic Canada Opportunities Agency, Lynn Coffin – Nova Scotia Business Inc., Mark Van de Wiel – St.FX Enterprise Development Centre, (front left) Alana Paon – BRE Account Executive, ARDA, and Sonny Alexander – N.S. Economic & Rural Development