Contributors
Description
The City of Perrysburg and the Perrysburg Area Chamber of Commerce, in partnership with Ohio State University Extension, the Ohio Sea Grant College Program, and Reveille Ltd. implemented a city-wide Business Retention andExpansion (BRE) program to gauge the perceptions and concerns of the business community in the City of Perrysburg. The retention of existing businesses has been and remains a primary goal of the City of Perrysburg, elected leaders and the Perrysburg Area Chamber of Commerce. Enhancing the ability of area businesses to profitably grow and expand is vital to sustaining and improving local economic viability.
City-wide BRE programs were facilitated sporadically in Perrysburg (2017 and 2020), but the City of Perrysburg understands the program needs to become an annual occurrence. BRE is seen as a staple for municipal, county, regional, and statewide economic development organizations
across the United States. The best “barometers” of how well a community functions as a place to do business and a place to live and work are the state of existing businesses and the existing workforce. Research shows that in Ohio, an average net job growth of 70% comes from existing
businesses, and that number increases to as high as 86% in rural areas.1
The success and growth of existing businesses support a larger tax base, increased local spending, enhanced public services, and an overall better quality of life. Strong local businesses also play a major role in the attraction of new business to an area. Satisfied existing business
leaders serve as a community’s best ambassadors to recruit new firms as well as a source of leads when seeking new firms to recruit.
