Business Retention on a Budget: Billings’ BEAR Program Leverages Volunteers (cont.)

1. The original steering group evolved to become the Assessment Team. This group of nearly 20 volunteers meets every Friday morning to review and assess the business interview information provided by BEAR clients and to discuss administrative issues. These committed stakeholders – each of whom has professional reasons for wanting to see the program succeed – have been key to the program’s success. The team includes the following individuals or organizational representatives:

• Billings Chamber of Commerce, Legislative Affairs
• Montana Department of Commerce Regional Development Officer
• Montana Job Service
• Billings Public Schools
• An organization development consultant
• Northwestern Energy
• Montana Manufacturing Extension Center
• The Montana State University-Billings College of Technology
• A state senator and consultant for the College of Professional Studies, MSU-Billings
• Eide Bailly (a technology and business consulting firm)
• Beartooth Resource Conservation and Development Area (an economic development district covering five counties, including, Yellowstone County, where Billings is located)

2. The BEAR Resource Team is a group of business professionals who volunteer their time and expertise as resources to assist BEAR clients with issues identified by the Assessment Team. They agree to provide one initial and one follow-up visit free of charge. In addition to colleagues from the local Small Business Development Center, the Procurement Technical Assistance Center and the Community Development Center, this group includes:

• Commercial bankers
• Marketing specialists
• Accountants
• Technology advisors
• Organizational development consultants
• Succession planners
• Web site development experts
• City/county employees
• College of Business students

3. BEAR Interviewers are the volunteers who interact directly with the businesses to learn about their concerns and issues. Interviewers attend a training seminar that introduces them to BEAR and program-specific interview techniques, then agree to complete a specific number of interviews per year.

Interviewers are paired into two-person teams to share the duties of interviewer and recorder, with responsibility for entering the information gathered into the software. One member of the pair agrees to be the company’s representative, following up with recommended resources. Interviewers are encouraged to attend Assessment Team meetings to discuss key issues from their meetings.

Despite having just one paid employee, building an assessment team, recruiting qualified interviewers and identifying resources became a reality because of the original steering group’s commitment. Four years later, virtually the same core committee continues the work, with the addition of several new members who perceive the group’s value. (In 2006, a half-time employee was added at Big Sky EDA to schedule appointments, keep meeting minutes, conduct interviews and assist clients in identifying resources.)

One of the key issues of having a volunteer base is that despite system reminders, resource providers don’t always report back into the ExecutivePulse database. These are professionals with full-time careers, in addition to their contribution to BEAR. Our solution was to have our staff interview the resource providers and enter the information into the system.

Expanding BEAR statewide

As a result of the success of the BEAR program, other communities in Montana – including Kalispell, Butte and Great Falls – requested our assistance in establishing their own systematic business retention programs. This enthusiasm reached representatives in the Governor’s Office of Economic Development (GOED).With financial assistance from the GOED and other sponsors, ExecutivePulse presented several statewide trainings to bolster the work already begun and spread the enthusiasm for the BEAR concept.

Nearly 200 people were trained in the BEAR philosophy and were eager to initiate the program in their communities. Naturally, the newly trained participants wanted access to the software that has been critical to the BEAR program. So when the cost proved prohibitive for many of their communities, GOED contracted with ExecutivePulse to purchase the program for the entire state.

The Montana Economic Developers Association was appointed to coordinate the statewide program, forming a working group to guide its implementation. Although the statewide coordination efforts were just started in October 2006, two communities have initiated programs, with several more at the ready. “Country BEAR,” under the guidance of Beartooth RC&D, is reaching out to small towns across eastern Montana.

Retention in a sparsely populated state like Montana can mean the survival of a community. Eighty percent of the businesses in Montana have 20 employees or fewer, and a number of our most productive employers started with one or two employees. The return on investment for an effective business retention program is enormous, and thanks to dedicated BEAR volunteers, that investment is paying off.

For more information, visit www.bigskyedc.org.

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