Beginning in 2012, staff from The Town of Aurora visited more than 150 businesses as part of the Business Retention and Expansion (BR&E) program. The goal of this program was to identify opportunities and actions to assist local businesses.

In January 2013, a validation process was undertaken, along with an online survey. An action-planning exercise was hosted at Aurora Town Hall in February. Subsequently, nine key trends were identified and further organized into three general themes:

How We Grow

• Continued smart and sustainable growth
• Availability of appropriate space or land
• Retaining and attracting businesses

Services for Business

• Making sense of development approvals
• Connecting businesses with residents
• Business networking and joint marketing

Enhancing Existing Resources

• Revitalizing downtown Aurora
• Improving public transit
• Increased communications and support programs

A draft action plan on how to support these reoccurring themes was brought to the Economic Development Advisory Committee in October 2013 and made available to the business community for comment through to November 2013. Feedback on the proposed action plan was overwhelmingly supportive and a meeting with the Aurora Chamber of Commerce in November helped solidify collaborative opportunities and roles for service delivery.

The final BR&E Action Plan is a culmination of collaborative efforts that address the concerns of Aurora�s business community. To view the full version of the plan, please visitwww.businessaurora.ca

For more information, please contact Michael Logue, Program Manager of Economic Planning, Town of Aurora, at 905-727-3123 ext. 4324 or [email protected]

BR&E Action Plan