The Gazette

E-Harmony for Communities and Industry

Communities across the nation are engaged in activities designed to stimulate economic development, often employing entrepreneurship development or targeted industry analyses. Entrepreneurship development programs are offered by several public and private organizations that mainly focus on the steps for starting and managing a business, while more technical targeted industrial development activities result in a list of industries for recruitment or further development. Other community outreach programs focus more on defining the development preferences of the community. Although each of these economic development programs is designed to help communities with economic development activities, none bring together industry demands with community goals and assets to develop a holistic sustainable community economic development strategy.

Community Business Matching Model 
The Community Business Matching (CBM) Model merges elements of industrial location models with quantified community preferences. The objective of CBM is to assist communities in identifying their goals for targeted economic development, the assets that will help them achieve those goals, and the types of businesses that will be most compatible with these goals and assets. 

CBM model offers (1) a replicable process for measuring community goals and assets relative to economic development and (2) procedures for matching these goals with the demands and benefits of compatible industries

Two indices, desirability and compatibility, are used by the CBM model to identify and rank potential matches. The desirability index measures how well an industry matches with the goals of the community along dimensions such as employment, environmental protection, wages, taxes, and increased business from other local firms. Identifying industries that are desirable from the communities’ perspective fulfills only half of the targeted economic development effort. The industries also examine the community to see if the community’s assets match the industry requirements. The second dimension of CBM, compatibility, measures how well the assets of the community match the requirements of the industry. 

Industries will be more likely to locate in a community that meets their needs for infrastructure, space, and labor. The compatibility index is derived from factors that the businesses have indicated are important to them in making location decisions. Primary data on these factors are collected by surveying industries to yield information that serves as the basis for the compatibility index. 

CBM combines the rigor of traditional economic models with local participation and an emphasis on the interconnectedness of economic, environmental, and social concerns. CBM adds a quantitative focus on the tradeoffs between economic, environmental, and social concerns, so that community members must systematically define and prioritize their goals. In addition, the CBM model incorporates information on business location decisions. Results from the CBM model not only pinpoint industries that could be targeted for local economic development, but also identify deficiencies in community assets that could be addressed in order to facilitate the targeting and recruitment of firms

What the CBM Program Will Do for your Community? 

The CBM program will assist your Community to better understand compatible industries that match the economic development goals of the community. The CBM follows a structured process that involves all segments of the community from start to finish. During the CBM program, a community will indentify: 
1. Community goals and priorities for economic development. 
2. Community assets that will help the community achieve goals and priorities. 
3. Industries that are desired and compatible with community goals and assets. 
4. Factors that best match industries consider when making relocation or expansion decisions.