C a s e S t u d y
Center for Economic Development
Strategic Plan
and
Marketing Program
for Municipality of Razgrad
I. Summary
As a result of the Bulgarian Technical Twinning Program, funded by USAID and managed by the Foundation for Local Government Reform and ICMA, the Municipality of Razgrad established contacts and is already actively working with experts from the City of Brunswick, Ohio, USA. As a result of this cooperation, the following projects were initiated.
1. Development of a strategic plan for the Center for Economic Development in Razgrad.
2. Development of a marketing program for the Razgrad region.
Both projects are extremely important in light of ongoing economic changes and are aimed at the restoration, stabilization and development of the local economy.
II. Problem Statement
During the last several years, the economic restructuring in Bulgaria proved not only necessary but also quite painful, both for the citizens and for the business community. Foreign markets and contacts were lost, thus reducing revenues and opportunity for economic growth. All this led to the need for a structure that would restore, as much as possible, what has been lost by means of establishing international contacts between manufacturers and information centers, providing information for different sectors of the economy and providing assistance to the business community in researching the needs of manufacturers and markets. The primary reason behind establishing a Center for Economic Development (CED) in Razgrad is to create a one-stop source to function as a link between manufacturers, information and clients.
Some of CED's major activities are: collecting and disseminating business information; research; training and retraining courses for unemployed people based on the local employment needs; providing information in business planning; developing strategies and business forecasts; establishing a business incubator which would allow business start-ups to develop; and, offering other services that haven't been offered so far.
III. Project Description
To implement this project, a group was formed in Razgrad, including private sector representatives and representatives of government and non-government organizations. In February 1999, the group established a Center for Economic Development. The group was chaired by Mr. Venelin Ouzounov, mayor of the Municipality of Razgrad, and included company managers, chairpersons of associations, local leaders, legal experts, private entrepreneurs, etc.
The first step was the drafting of bylaws for the newly established organization and court registration was completed.
In April 1999, the project entered a new phase and, together with our American counterparts, we started working on the development of a strategic plan for the CED and a marketing program for the Razgrad region.
A series of meetings and discussions on these issues were held. The meetings with the Regional Development Board of Akron, the Greater Cleveland Growth Association, as well as meetings with the Brunswick experts, were extremely helpful.
The work on the development of the strategic plan and the marketing program continued in May, this time with the participation of experts on strategic planning, organizational structure and marketing from Brunswick, Columbus and Cleveland. Their visit to Razgrad allowed them to get a first-hand understanding of existing problems. This made it significantly easier for them to offer more rational solutions that are applicable to Bulgarian conditions.
Our joint work was especially useful and, as a final result, we have completed the work on the CED's strategic plan and have developed an action plan for the current year. We have also prepared the marketing program which is aimed at promoting the economic, social and cultural advantages of the region. The focus is placed on business information, as the goal of this document is to raise interest among local and foreign investors and to attract them to our region.
We defined the CED's mission and strategic goals as follows.
Mission:
To encourage and support the sustainable economic development
of the Municipality of Razgrad.
Strategic Goals:
To support the development of small businesses by establishing a favorable environment for the development of entrepreneurship, provision of consulting and planning services, marketing information and funds, as well as by establishing and operating a business incubator.
To provide information, training and business services necessary for the development of the Razgrad economy.
To support the strengthening and the development of existing businesses in the region by means of identifying new opportunities and better use of local resources.
To advertise the advantages of the Razgrad region in order to attract new businesses and industries in the region.
The CED's organizational structure takes into consideration the current limited capabilities of the Center and will be expanded on an as-needed basis (or services of external consultants will be used) so as to allow greater flexibility and functionality of work.
The marketing program is a compilation of general and economic information about the Razgrad region. It is aimed at generating interest among foreign investors by providing them with as complete information as possible related directly or indirectly to their intentions.
The areas included in the marketing program are: general geographic information about the region; unemployment; economy and significant businesses; education; healthcare; transportation; communications; history; culture; etc.
The focus of the marketing program is on the following priority areas:
pharmaceuticals;
silicate industry;
food industry;
agribusiness;
other industries;
tourism.
There is a great need for such a document for Razgrad as nothing similar has been done to date. The marketing program is a new and important document which would give the Center for Economic Development the opportunity to promote the region abroad and would become a prerequisite for establishing business contacts between local producers and foreign clients.
IV. Implementation Timeline
The Center for Economic Development was established in February 1999 and bylaws were adopted. Also in February, with expert assistance from the twinned city of Armagh, Northern Ireland, Razgrad developed the first strategic plan for the CED, which was later discussed and amended with the assistance of experts from Brunswick, Cleveland and Akron, Ohio, USA. In July the plan was submitted to the Board of Directors of the CED for discussion and adoption. By establishing such an organization, we have set the goal to constantly expand the scope of its capabilities. Our desire is to make the Center for Economic Development in Razgrad the most prestigious and sought after partner in the business community of the region.
Some of the most important tasks included in the action plan are:
to create a database of producers and traders in the region;
to survey Razgrad region employers' needs for trained personnel in order to organize training and retraining courses;
to develop a marketing program for CED;
to develop a business plan for a business incubator;
to implement the "Crafts Exhibition '99" project in the City of Armagh, Northern Ireland.
The goal is to make the Center for Economic Development the most reliable support organization for start-up and existing businesses in the region, both in the near term and in the more distant future.
V. Solutions Overview
As a result of our joint work with American experts, we achieved some especially important results, namely:
New contacts and partnership relations were established between representatives of the Municipality of Razgrad and representatives from Brunswick, Akron, Columbus and Cleveland.
A general consensus was reached on the economic problems and the necessary steps for solving them.
The Bulgarian experts adopted more effective methods in their work (expressed in better team working), use of strategic planning in their work and greater openness to external and innovative ideas.
The Center for Economic Development became very popular shortly after it was established.
Different opportunities for cooperation with private business, government and non-government organizations through partnerships for work on joint projects, exchange of information and experts, etc.
VI. Benefits
The effect of the CED's work is multilateral. First of all, a flexible and effective system for making logical decisions leading to positive results is being established. The local business community is becoming more active and entrepreneurship grows, resulting in more diversified, high quality and less expensive services for the citizens. The goal is to improve the style of work in the public and private sector as a whole and of the managers of the companies. In most cases, ineffective management is one of the reasons for the failure of many businesses. Besides the style of work, access to information also plays a decisive role. Currently, many producers have no information about the latest achievements in the areas of interest to them, lack useful business contacts and broader markets. The Center for Economic Development will fill this gap by means of establishing a database that will provide information of any kind needed by the business community.
The Center is also aimed at providing help to small businesses in terms of improving their skills by special training, seminars, information dissemination, business consulting, business planning, etc.
Based on expected economic results, the Center's work should also contribute to positive changes in the standard of living of the population. By increasing the material welfare of the people, opportunities for better social communications and revitalization of cultural traditions would be established. Many of the Center's projects would be more successful with wider citizen participation. Only through partnership and mutual assistance can the efforts aimed at economic growth of the Razgrad region be effective. The current policy of the Center for Economic Development is focused in this direction.
VII. Conclusion
The opportunity to substantially enhance the economic condition of the Razgrad region has been materially advanced through the cooperative relationships among Razgrad and Brunswick. Our respective experts in public administration, the private business sector and our social/cultural community have contributed much to our mutual understanding and respect for each other's many contributions to the betterment of the human condition. Razgrad benefited from specific assistance in the development of CED's strategic plan and the marketing program for the Razgrad region.
The direct interaction with our American counterparts allowed us to learn and apply in our work some of their established methods such as team working, responsibility and accountability, etc. We believe in the success of the project which is a result of the in depth efforts of many Bulgarian and American experts. Together we will work to strengthen the confidence of the existing and future clients of the Center for Economic Development in Razgrad.
