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Hosting Potential Investors

Last updated on August 10, 2017

Preparation

It is important to have a clear understanding of the potential business investment – some important considerations include:

  • What specific locations and sites within the community will be of interest to the prospective investor? Ask them what they would like to see and who they would like to meet during the course of the visit and design your itinerary accordingly.
  • Is suitable local accommodation available within your community or nearby? Ensure that appropriate and comfortable accommodation in arranged
  • Identify local restaurants that can host/cater meals to make a good impression
  • Transportation to and from the nearest airport, if required
  • Availability of senior community leaders (e.g. Mayor, First Nation Chief, local MLA, local MP, etc.), if appropriate
  • Availability of senior representatives from local/regional business-oriented organizations and government such as: Economic Development Office, Community Futures Development Corporation, Ministry of Jobs, Tourism and Skills Training, Western Economic Diversification, representatives from your regional development Trust, officials from post-secondary educational institutions and training organizations

Plan Your Itinerary

A well-planned itinerary will allow you to make the most of the time you have and ensure a smooth visit.  The itinerary will likely consist of one full day, potentially including the evening before and the morning after.

You can customize the Itinerary Template based on your community and investor needs. The itinerary should be flexible and able to accommodate any changes in plan.  It may also be important to build additional time into your itinerary for taking pictures, allowing for questions or visiting a local tourist attraction.

Consider including the following items in your itinerary:

  • Meet and greet at the airport
  • Transportation to and from accommodation
  • Welcome event – breakfast, lunch or dinner with the community’s primary contact for economic development and investment attraction, senior community leader, and one or two local business leaders (e.g. President of Chamber of Commerce)
  • Overview of the community – a quick tour highlighting some of the community’s key amenities and features including tourist attractions, business and industrial areas, cultural and recreational amenities or scenic views
  • Business briefing attended by local community leaders 
  • Visits to commercial and industrial sites and buildings that may be of interest to the prospective investor – a local commercial real estate agent may want to participate
  • Visits to local companies in the same sector of the economy 
  • Opportunities for the prospective investor to ask other business managers “what’s it like to do business here?” – these meetings work best if arranged as confidential one-on-one discussions, assuming you have confidence that the local business managers will be supportive 
  • Wrap-up meeting, best-handled by your community’s economic development contacts as they will be responsible for the post-visit follow-up
  • Wrap-up social event
  • Farewell and transportation to airport

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