Coastal Gateway Regional Economic Development Alliance (CGEDA) held an existing business training program at BankTrust in Monroeville on Tuesday, July 26 from 9 am until 11 am.

Mr. Bob Higgins, a renowned existing industry professional and Senior Vice President of the Baldwin County Economic Development Alliance (BCEDA) facilitated the training. Twenty-two volunteers participated, including local economic developers from the 5 county Coastal Gateway region. The central focus of the training was to develop a comprehensive interview and data driven Existing Business Program by means of the Synchronist format.

Synchronist is a software tool and interview system that communities across the country use to gather intelligence about their existing companies. The system was developed by Blane, Canada Ltd., a national leader in economic development marketing and business retention strategies.

The Synchronist format is recommended by the Alabama Development Office (ADO), and the Economic Development Partnership of Alabama (EDPA) as well as numerous local, regional, and statewide economic development organizations. The program will address two objectives: 1. Gathering useful information at a volume that can provide meaningful analysis for the entire region and 2. Strengthening relationships with companies throughout the region with an emphasis on identifying potential opportunities to retain and grow jobs.

Existing business visits will be coordinated through local economic development offices and CGEDA. Volunteers will meet with companies along with the local economic developer and a CGEDA representative when possible. Company information gathered during interviews will be held in the strictest confidence.

Jim Searcy, Executive Director of the CGEDA, said "Economic Development is not a one man job. The team we have put together will enable us to better serve our existing industries."

A follow up meeting for the existing business team will tentatively take place in two months in order to determine the progress of the program as well as to assist with data analysis and action planning.