Economic developers to help four county companies with strategic business plans
Thursday, August 21, 2008, 4:24pm
CANTON – The St. Lawrence County Office of Economic Development (OED) will partner with the St. Lawrence County Industrial Development Agency (SLCIDA), St. Lawrence County Workforce Investment Board (SLCWIB) and CITEC Manufacturing & Technology Solutions to provide strategic planning assistance to at least four St. Lawrence County companies.
Using Tribal-State Compact Revenue, the county has allocated $25,000 to assist four small, locally owned manufacturers operating in St. Lawrence County in preparing strategic business plans.
To be competitive and to grow, locally owned businesses need to have strategic plans, just as larger companies do. Such a plan has understandable, tangible goals and action steps, assigned responsibilities and measurements. The idea is to think strategically rather than simply reacting to the whims of the marketplace.
Manufacturing has long been a mainstay of the St. Lawrence County economy. By focusing on the growth of small, locally-owned manufacturers and fabricators the county hopes to help create an economic future that will continue to have manufacturing balancing the county’s other sectors.
To help achieve this future, the OED has agreed to pay all but $250 of the costs involved in helping manufacturers in the county to develop strategic business plans in cooperation with CITEC. The OED and CITEC, OED’s business consulting partner for this project, specialize in providing development assistance to manufacturing businesses in the county.
“Our county’s manufacturing sector has been a critical component of our economy and we want to help arm them for the increasingly global competition that will test their sustainability in the years ahead,” said OED Director Raymond Fountain. “This project and the county’s funding support for it will not only help to brighten the outlook for this important sector in our region, but also encourage the companies to think seriously about pro-active expansion.“
Workforce Investment Board Chairman Michael Noble said that the WIB and the IDA teamed up with CITEC in 2004 to do four similar plans, and that all four companies had benefited from the plans and the process that they used to develop them. IDA Chairman Brian Staples noted that at least two of the 2004 companies had used the plans to map out expansions, and said “We hope that happens again – with four additional firms.”
If you would like to submit an application to participate in the project or learn more about the St. Lawrence County Office of Economic Development, contact John Manson at 379-9806 or visit the OED on the web at www.slcida.com.
To learn more about the strategic planning project, contact Tom Plastino at 268-3778, ext. 24, or visit www.citec.org.
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