BC Hydro: BusinessCARE

A Crown Corporation, BC Hydro is British Columbia’s largest utility company, supplying hydroelectric power to residential, commercial and industrial customers in Canada and the United States.

The challenge
Recognizing its crucial role in developing a strong and vital economy, BC Hydro decided to develop a business retention and expansion program aimed at assisting communities in local economic development initiatives. The success of the program - the first of its kind in Canada - depended on BC Hydro’s ability to attract community participation.

Strategy and execution
Whalebone Productions worked with BC Hydro on developing key community partnerships and helping to produce a manual that would allow local steering committees to implement the program on their own. Our strategy was to launch the BusinessCARE (Community Assisted Retention and Expansion) program to a well-established network of community economic development organizations across the province. This allowed BC Hydro to draw on the knowledge and goodwill established by the local organizations. In turn, participating communities benefited by receiving valuable support from BC Hydro in strengthening their local economies.

Whalebone also worked with BC Hydro on the development of a user-friendly “how-to” manual and step-by-step guide for publicizing the program that included a series of templates for press releases, stakeholder letters, and other communications tools.

“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.”
BC Hydro, The Journey to Sustainability

Results
BusinessCARE was successfully implemented and has been incorporated as an ongoing program in several communities across British Columbia. It also received a national award from the Economic Development Association of Canada as the top Community Economic Development project in the country.

Index