Tailored Site Selection for Investment Success: Whitby’s Investment Attraction Program

In the past, the Town of Whitby’s Economic Development team followed a traditional process for investment attraction. After an investment inquiry would be made, Staff would review potential sites and provide an emailed list of sites with links and marketing flyers if available. However, this method proved inconsistent and ineffective in showcasing the municipality, and it lacked crucial elements such as follow-up, relationship building, and investment tracking. As a result, the traditional approach fell short of maximizing Whitby’s potential for economic growth.

To address these shortcomings, Whitby introduced significant improvements to their investment attraction process. Central to these enhancements is a custom investment template designed for all investment inquiries. This template includes:

• Community Profile: An overview of demographics, amenities, and quality of life.
• Sector Profiles: Insights into specific sectors relevant to investors.
• Potential Location Options: Strategic sites tailored to meet investment needs.
• Overview of Economic Development Services: Services available to investors.

In addition to the custom investment package, Whitby implemented a formalized investment inquiry process, which includes:

• Custom Investment Package Delivery: Ensuring that investors, site selectors, and investment organizations receive a tailored package containing community profiles, sector-specific information, and detailed location options, including parcel information, planning details, location benefits, and visual aids like photos and maps.
• Follow-Up Strategy: A structured follow-up schedule at 3, 6, and 12 months post-inquiry, aimed at nurturing relationships with investors and providing ongoing support.
• External and Internal Investment Tools: Utilization of tools such as the Concierge Program for streamlining non-residential proposals and Why Whitby investor and data tools provided through Local Intel,
• Investment Tracking and Database Management: Utilization of a tracking platform, industrial pipeline database, and investment tracking sheet to monitor progress, and gather feedback.

The customized investment packages and new approach to investment attraction has proven to be an effective change for investors, site selectors, realtors and partners at Invest Durham and Invest Ontario. The consistent template and process is now seen as a best practice within Durham Region and is being implemented by local municipalities and Invest Durham

The new investment process provides a sustainable, long-term solution for consistent, accurate and timely information to help support investment decisions. The defined process, which was developed through a Lean Green Belt Review, provides a clear process that can be followed by new and existing team members. The on-going tracking of investment progress, and investor relations has also allowed Whitby to better understand decision criteria and be better position to land future investment.

Since January 2023, Whitby has developed 62 customized investment packages. The 3-6-12 month follow-up has identified key factors influencing investment including differences in price expectations, ownership preferences, and availability constraints. It’s also allowed Whitby to better understand success factors including relative cost savings, specific location benefits, and positive trends within the market. These improvements in the investment attraction process, has helped Whitby attract 5 large employers within key economic sectors and be well positioned to attract several companies in the coming months.