Selling Winnipeg to the world

Business Call Team member Laura Kwiatkowski (right) is interviewed by the media.

Winnipeg has a compelling story to tell, and in order to expand our business base, we must go out and tell that story, says Bill Morrissey, senior vice-president of membership and marketing  for The Winnipeg Chamber of Commerce.

Last fall, as part of a new three-year strategic plan (2008-11), The Chamber launched Selling Winnipeg to the World, an initiative that makes business attraction, retention and expansion a priority.

“In particular, we need more head offices. But first, we must get their attention. We must be pro-active, targeted and strategic,” Morrissey says.

“As a starting point, we decided to tap into the intelligence that already exists within our business community.”

Earlier this year, The Chamber established a Business Call Team, recruiting 60 volunteers, leading members of the business community, to meet one-on-one with the executives of more than 200 of Winnipeg’s largest firms.

“We not only asked for “leads”on companies that are thinking of opening, expanding or relocating their operations, but we asked what keeps our local businesses here, some of the barriers they see to attracting other businesses and what industry sectors we should focus on to ensure a vibrant economy.”

In June, the Business Call Team reported back.

“We flushed out some great leads,” Morrissey says, adding the team uncovered 12 “hot” prospects that could result in an additional 550 jobs for Winnipeg.

As an example, a site selector for a European company looking to establish a North American presence has placed Winnipeg near the top of its list.

Not surprisingly, local companies say Winnipeg scores big with them because of its people and/or workforce. Of those who met with the call team, 67 per cent randomly mentioned its people as the No. 1 reason they choose to stay in Winnipeg.

That was followed by quality of life (63 per cent), loyalty to customers and employees (44 per cent), diversified, stable economy (43 per cent), competitive operating costs (24 per cent) and location and transportation advantages (15 per cent).

“We felt this information was so valuable, we put it to immediate use,” Morrissey says, adding The Chamber, together with Destination Winnipeg and the Province of Manitoba, created a new brochure entitled Winnipeg – Build Your Business on Solid Ground, that is being used to market our city.

The Chamber also participated in a trade mission to India in July.

“We saw this as a chance to sell Winnipeg to the world and present the business case for Winnipeg,” he says. At least 20 opportunities were identified and will be followed up.

“We were able to leverage the relationships both The Chamber and Province built on previous visits to pursue real opportunities in one of the world’s fastest growing economies.”

Winnipeg’s own economy is based on several key strengths, and the Business Call Team reinforced what those are: transportation, agriculture, manufacturing, technology and science, energy, life sciences, aerospace, call centres/back office and financial services.

Although the intent of Selling Winnipeg to the World was to stay focused on the positive, The Chamber also felt the question needed to be asked about the barriers and obstacles to doing business, so action can be taken to make Winnipeg even more attractive.

Feedback indicated that taxation, and more specifically the payroll tax, continues to be viewed as the most significant issue that must be addressed.

As part of Selling Winnipeg to the World, The Chamber also wants to determine which sectors should be focused on to better target potential prospects.

The Chamber is currently in the process of creating an Economic Partnership, under its umbrella, but at arm’s length, to actively pursue those prospects.

This fall, it will launch a campaign to raise the funds to form and operate a small but high-powered team to attract many companies to Winnipeg over the next five years and to assist existing companies in expanding.

Plans are to have the Economic Partnership in place by March 2010.

“We firmly believe we will succeed, and in the process, Selling Winnipeg to the World will significantly add to the vibrancy and prosperity of our city,” Morrissey says.