Strengthening Local Economies Through BR+E: Insights from Pembroke

City of Pembroke municipal staff and volunteers recently conducted 32 one-on-one interviews with local businesses, focusing on manufacturers and small employers as part of their recent Business Retention and Expansion project (BR+E). With support from the Ministry of Rural Affairs’ Business Retention and Expansion program and $17,667 in support from the Rural Economic Development (RED) program, now the Rural Ontario Development (ROD) program, they were able to put local businesses at the centre of the conversation. The community used this information and experiences to develop an action plan to improve their local economy. As Heather Sutherland from the City of…