Economic Development 101: Why Business Retention and Expansion Is a Cornerstone of Local Prosperity
While new company announcements often capture headlines, the foundation of a strong economy is built by businesses that are already part of a community. Business Retention and Expansion (BRE) is the practice of supporting existing companies through intentional engagement, services, programs, and resources that help them remain competitive, avoid closure or workforce reductions, and ideally expand where they are. From an opportunity cost perspective, existing businesses in a community on an aggregate scale may create as much as 70% of new job growth, and over time, drive a larger share of tax contributions than the relocation of business operations from outside the community.
At its core, BRE is about understanding risk before it becomes reality. Companies face constant pressures: expiring leases, real estate constraints, workforce shortages, infrastructure needs, regulatory complexity, and shifting market conditions. Without proactive engagement, these challenges can quietly result in relocation or downsizing decisions. BRE programs help communities identify these “flight risks” early and respond with coordinated solutions. Like in many business models, keeping the customers you already have is a cost-effective and efficient practice.
Why Retention Is Best Led Locally
Effective BRE efforts are relationship-driven and rooted in local knowledge. One best practice is for communities to establish formal retention programs that prioritize regular communication with employers and their representatives. Through business retention visits, surveys, and ongoing dialogue, local economic development practitioners can assess business satisfaction, identify gaps in the local business environment, and mobilize rapid response when issues arise.
Local economic development professionals are well positioned to coordinate across municipal departments, utilities, workforce partners, educational institutions, and supply chain resources. Retention efforts may include assembling task forces of business peers and regulatory officials, deploying grant funds to address infrastructure or operational challenges, and leveraging volunteer business ambassadors to strengthen trust and communication.
Importantly, most communities focus retention efforts across a broad range of employers, not only primary job creators, but also retail, services, and hospitality businesses that contribute to vibrancy, placemaking, and quality of life.
Metro Denver EDC’s Role in the Retention Ecosystem
Metro Denver Economic Development Corporation (EDC) plays a distinct and complementary role. Our organizational focus is on the recruitment and site selection support of primary job-creating investments into the Colorado Front Range. We rely on local economic development teams to lead retention efforts within their communities, while delivering critical data through our Economic Competitiveness Team. Local and regional economic data and intelligence provide practitioners with important insights around a community’s competitive strengths and gaps, including workforce dynamics, real estate and industry trends, and opportunities to leverage key local assets.
Where Metro Denver EDC adds value is through regional support and coordination. We convene the Front Range Economic Collaborative (FREC), a network of economic development practitioners from across the region. FREC creates a venue for professionals to network, benchmark efforts, and share best practices around retention strategies, tactics, and programs. It strengthens the region by encouraging collaboration rather than competition.
Metro Denver EDC also brings forward awareness of state, national, and utility-based resources, including economic development programs and grant opportunities, and highlights case studies of successful retention efforts to help communities learn from one another. In addition, we host and facilitate a Business Retention and Expansion training module as part of the annual Basics of Economic Development Course in Colorado, in partnership with the International Economic Development Council (IEDC) and the Economic Development Council of Colorado (EDCC). These trainings emphasize the importance of pairing data-driven analysis with relationship-building tools to create effective, actionable BRE strategies.
Retention as a Regional Commitment
When a business outgrows its current community or faces real estate limitations that cannot be solved locally, Metro Denver EDC supports regional and statewide retention by engaging the FREC network to identify qualified site alternatives. The goal is simple: keep investment, jobs, and opportunity in Colorado and within the Front Range whenever possible.
Business retention may happen locally, but its impact is regional. When done well, it strengthens the entire economic ecosystem.
