Insight into the Service Elements of Regional Economies
Innovation, creativity, entrepreneurship, talent and technology are the major drivers of regional economic growth today. Many of these factors play out in regional economies through services businesses as well as manufacturing industries.
In the past, services were viewed as a residual to economic growth. Today they are a driving force and bring tremendous value to regional economies. Services account for the majority of employment and all of employment growth in many regions. Many types of services are exported, bringing new money to communities. Services firms innovate and create, while also catalyzing innovation among their clients. Services also dominate new firm formation. But services industries should not be viewed in isolation. Their impact is heightened through their interactions with goods-producing industries as well as with each other.
BDA works with economic development leaders to adapt their regional growth strategies to this reality. Services firms often have different needs than the companies many economic development organizations were formed to serve. They employ fewer people and include a higher proportion of the self-employed and microenterprises; they are less capital intensive; they need less and different types of working space. They care less about tax incentives and more about amenities, networks, talent, and access to their partners and clients.
Recent projects have analyzed the role of professional and business services, knowledge-intensive business services, creative businesses, healthcare/life sciences, and education in regional economies. Other projects have examined the issues of talent and entrepreneurship, specifically the role of the self-employed.
Business Development Strategies Adapted to Today's Economy
BDA advises communities on the factors that drive regional business growth in the global, services-based economy. There is broad recognition that it no longer makes sense to rely on single high-profile industries or companies to create growth and prosperity in our communities. Further, business attraction alone is unlikely to generate economic growth for a community, given the steady decline in big projects and the increasing number of competitors around the globe.
BDA has the unique ability to combine an understanding of the factors that are changing our regional economies with knowledge of the operating needs of new, expanding, and relocating businesses. BDA builds on tried-and-true business attraction and development approaches and broadens their application to companies that have not been part of the traditional site selection market. BDA supports economic development agencies as they transition their business development efforts in response to new economic conditions.
Business attraction remains one of the core responsibilities of economic development agencies. It is high profile and high risk. Many organizations perform target industry studies to support their attraction efforts. Few are fully satisfied with the results.
BDA goes beyond traditional targeting efforts by studying industry needs and identifying companies that match community goals and location attributes. Other target industry studies typically leave economic development professionals without sufficient information to conduct effective marketing efforts. While they have a list of broad industry targets, they have no guidance on how to identify the best companies for their location or how to contact them in an effective manner.
BDA works with clients not only to define target industries, but to:
- Identify the most appropriate market segments within those target industries;
- Provide industry information that allows economic developers to speak confidently with executives;
- Establish location- and industry-specific screening criteria to identify potential prospect companies; and
- Prepare company profiles to support calling/contact strategies.
For more information on BDA's approach to industry targeting, please contact us and request a copy of the BDA Business Attraction Process Overview.
Economic development agencies are often evaluated by the number of new jobs they bring to a community. However, the ability to expand the business base depends on dozens of factors beyond the quality of the recruitment effort. BDA works with communities through strategic planning, competitive assessments, and program and policy development to enhance the location-specific factors that affect business growth. We have worked on initiatives ranging from workforce development to real estate projects. We work with communities throughout these efforts to establish stakeholder support and implement recommended programs.