The Washington
State Experience:
Using the Synchronist Business Information System®
Published in: BREI News A publication of Business Retention Expansion
International
January
2000 Volume 5, No. 3
Ginger
Rich, BRE Manager for Washington Department of Community, Trade
& Economic Development
Development
practitioners have focused on a strong process-oriented model for
business retention. The difficult issue for the profession of how
to increase the value of the results have been avoided. In 1996,
Blane, Canada Ltd. convened a group of economic development professionals
to develop a strategic information approach to business retention.
The result of this collaborative research was a computer-based software
tool used to help organize, analyze, and report existing company
information.
In
November 1998, Washington was the first state to adopt the Synchronist
Business Information System¨ as the platform for a statewide
business retention program. The state of Washington adopted Synchronist
after a thorough analysis and a review of alternatives. A strong
factor in choosing this system was its focus on economic development
issues.
After
the first year, four significant lessons were evident from the Washington
experience. And, ultimately,
by creating a statewide aggregation of the local survey data, the
State hopes to identify statewide retention and expansion issues
and needs.
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