Extension > Community > Business Retention & Expansion > BR&E Course
BR&E Course
Retaining and expanding business in your community
New course offers in-person, online training in BR&E strategies
A healthy, vibrant local economy depends largely on the strength of a community's existing businesses. Community leaders can help local businesses survive and grow by implementing effective business retention and expansion (BR&E) strategies. So how do you do that?
Starting in January 2013, University of Minnesota Extension will offer a course on the fundamentals of BR&E in a convenient "blended" format that combines in-person with online learning. The course is designed for economic and community development professionals and other leaders who want to conduct a community-led BR&E effort in their town.
What happens when you take the community-based approach? Read about Marshall, MN and the BR&E program.
This project was funded in part by the Initiative Foundation, a regional foundation.
Course co-sponsors: Economic Development Association of Minnesota, West Central Initiative, Northwest Minnesota Foundation, and Minnesota Chamber of Commerce Grow Minnesota Program.
Course cost and schedule
The course gets under way with in-person sessions January 22-23, 2013 in the Twin Cities. The training will be held in concert with the EDAM (Economic Development Association of Minnesota) Winter Conference scheduled for January 24-25. Online modules will be conducted in the months following, and we will wrap things up April 17th with a second face-to-face session in the Twin Cities.
Cost of the course is $400 until December 19, 2012. After 12/19 it is $450. Minnesota residents will be given preference for course seats. If there is room after December 17, 2012, we will accept participants from elsewhere. Three Initiative Foundations are offering scholarships for this course. For more information, contact Michael Darger at darger@umn.edu or 612-625-6246.
Community Team Discount
Community-led BR&E is all about teamwork. Therefore, it makes sense to send a team to this training if you're able. To encourage this, we offer discounts for team attendance: a community team of two can register together for $750, and a community team of three to five individuals can register together for $1,000. This will save you money, and you're much more likely to get an actual BR&E initiative going back home if a team works together in the course. The discount is only for groups from a town or city, county, school district, or other groups of neighboring communities.
Questions and Registration
For more information, download the course flyer (PDF). To register for the course, go to z.umn.edu/breregistration. And watch this web page for updates.
