2001 Triple Bottom Line Report - BC Hydro

E C O N O M I C D E V E L O P M E N T
Success for our customers means success for BC Hydro.
We invest in the long-term health of the communities we serve
by working in partnership with economic development authorities
and other stakeholders to promote business continuity, growth
and opportunities. For example, designed to spur economic
development, our website provides access to a comprehensive
stream of data of interest – industrial site information, economic
profiles of individual communities and an inventory of local
projects – to investors considering locating in British Columbia.
We also work at the local level to help communities identify,
seize and expand business opportunities.
B U S I N E S S C A R E
BusinessCARE (Community Assisted Retention and Expansion)
is a locally led strategic planning program to help community
leaders identify economic issues, barriers and opportunities.
It encourages people to plan specific actions to help their
business communities survive and thrive.
We launched BusinessCARE in 1997 in a single British Columbia
community and have since expanded it to eight towns and
cities across the province: Kamloops, Dawson Creek, Ladysmith,
Vernon/North Okanagan, Nanaimo, Victoria, Chilliwack
and Prince George.
An estimated 1400 businesses have participated in the program
since its inception, including 800 in 2000. Our goal is to
engage even more communities in BusinessCARE: thirty are on
the waiting list to initiate the program, and we are planning
to develop a modified version of the program to make it easier
for communities to implement the process.
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BC Hydro was recognized in 2000 for our work to help
develop local economies. We were one of several members
of a province-wide network of community-based organizations
honoured by the Community Futures Development Association
of B.C. for creating economic opportunities in the province’s
rural communities. The award saluted a range of BC Hydro
local development initiatives, including our on-line development
inventory, the BusinessCARE program, scholarships for
community economic developers and group mentoring
programs for entrepreneurs.
BusinessCARE involves extensive interviews with business
owners and managers to identify risks to a community’s
economy, including issues related to finance, marketing,
local government, labour market and training, and real estate.
Each program effort is led by a local task force that receives
training, guidance and other support from BC Hydro.
Interview findings help communities identify urgent issues
and appropriate solutions. Information also provides insights
on a three to five year horizon that can serve long-term
planning for business retention and expansion needs.
Along with expanding BusinessCARE to more communities
in 2000, we initiated a modified version of the program.
BusinessCARE Visitation is a shorter-term process, for communities
with an economic development strategy already in place, to
solve individual business problems and build a responsive,
customer-focused culture.