If you are part of the government, your main job is to stimulate business growth. In the end, with sufficient resources, you can start various initiatives that lead to the improvement of the local community. With more resources, you can also invest in education, health and public works, making your city or community more attractive.
However, implementing a comprehensive strategy is easier said than done. Even if you have a general idea of what to do, you still depend on various factors. Above all, you need to encourage stakeholders to invest in your region and not elsewhere. That’s why guides like this one are so invaluable.
In this article, we will talk about different tactics that would make your city more attractive to investors. We go into detail about all the little tidbits that directly or indirectly help boost growth.
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Identify local stakeholders
The first task is Identify people with the most money. List all the business people who work in your city or state and focus on those who have made local investments in the past. Remember that you don’t have to limit yourself to private establishments and you can also add various clubs and public groups to the mix.
Even if these people are not ready to invest in the local economy at this time, you should still try to include them in the decision-making process. They can provide you with numerous insights into future trends and the best investment of development funds.
Another good trick is to create roles within the development group. Give influential business people seats on the council and develop unique positions for each of them. Many people will be proud to be included in leadership positions, which will make them more invested in the entire process.
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Conduct mapping and research
Once you reach out to stakeholders and form a working group, you need to analyze the local economy. Your main task is to concentrate on the available resources and their optimal use. You might also think about gaps in the market in your home state and whether your local businesses could help fill those gaps.
Be granular with this step. You should not only look at the economy as a whole, but also analyze different sectors. For example, you can see if there are opportunities to make improvements in specific industries.
Once you have all the factors covered, it is time to develop a local strategy based on pre-determined needs and opportunities. In this step, it is important to get everyone on board, especially the companies that have a direct influence on cash flow (financial institutions, NGOs, investors).
When developing a strategy, you also need to determine how certain policies, such as infrastructure investments and subsidies, will affect specific companies. You need to measure the opportunity cost and decide which activities would be more lucrative. Of course, all of this should be done taking market factors and global competition into account.
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Stimulate local consumption
They should not only influence local investors and Stimulate entrepreneurship, but you also need to change the mindset of local consumers. For the economy to be efficient, purchases and associated taxes must remain in the city.
On a related note, you may even want to cut down on online shopping unless stores are located within city limits. Giving local businesses an edge in marketing can increase brand awareness and encourage more purchases.
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Organize fairs and open markets
One of the biggest problems for local manufacturers is raising the initial funds that would allow them to rent a retail store or build larger inventory. To make it easier for small business owners to get started, organize as many trade fairs and open markets as possible. Even if these are periodic events that last a few days, they could help manufacturers make some money.
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Give out awards and organize annual events
Another way to create a sense of community is through annual events hosted by the local government. The best example of this is award ceremonies where you recognize the work and dedication of top business professionals.
Of course, for an event to be successful, as many local companies as possible need to be on the list. If the biggest entrepreneurs are not present, the entire ceremony will end up sounding empty.
As far as awards go, you can tinker with all sorts of concepts and you might even want to consider giving out cash prizes to the winners. Check these out Chamber of Commerce Award Ideas This will help you find the best solutions.
This is a sponsored post – the author requested that this post be shared in WE Magazine for Women and we were compensated for sharing.
