Since its launch in 2004, SmartBusiness has benefited local companies and our community by:
- Identifying companies at risk of moving out of Greater Halifax and enabling them to stay;
- Connecting companies to recruitment and training experts; and,
- Facilitating new contracts, R&D assistance, and exporting leads that directly contribute to a company's bottom line.
The initiative continues to generate results. Since June of 2004 we have:
- Conducted over 1,800 interviews;
- Generated over 1,000 referrals to the Action Team, resulting in 90% closed files; and,
- Created or retained over 5,000 jobs.
The initiative is award-winning, having received the:
- 2006 Economic Developers Association of Canada “Economic Development Achievement of the Year Award”; and,
- The 2005 Business Retention and Expansion International “Best Business Retention and Expansion Initiative”.
The initiative is also considered best practice:
- The Nova Scotia Provincial Government has used our model as the methodology for their Provincial roll-out of Business Retention and Expansion (BR&E); and,
- The Provincial program recently received an Honourable Mention in the State/Province/Territory category at the 2009 BRE International Awards.
As a result of intelligence gathered by the SmartBusiness team, the following Partnership projects and initiatives have been created:
- Youth 2 Employers (Y2E) - As part of our Talent Strategy, the Greater Halifax Partnership has launched this project to make the business connection between priority youth and local employers.
- Immigration Employer Support Program (IES) - For those employers who have indicated recruitment challenges, this program will provide them with information on the opportunities and benefits of hiring immigrants and how to begin the process.
- The Halifax Connector Program - The Halifax Connector Program puts newcomers to our city directly in touch with business owners and operators, managers, civil servants, community leaders…people like you.
- Best Practices in Employee Attraction, Recruitment and Retention in Manufacturing - The Partnership integrated information relative to recruitment and retention that Canadian Manufacturers & Exporters (CME) Nova Scotia gathered through its Manufacturing 20/20 campaign and consulted with CME Nova Scotia in identifying and assessing best practices that work for manufacturers in our community.
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