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Expansion Support

The Business Attraction, Retention & Expansion Team focuses on supporting  existing businesses. Peterborough & the Kawarthas has a broad and diversified economy with strengths in the following key sectors:

Connect with us today

Rhonda Keenan

Rhonda Keenan

President and CEO

Supporting local business is crucial to local and regional economic vitality and prosperity. Approximately 80 percent of new jobs and capital investment comes from companies that already exist in the community. 

The main goal of business retention is to assist existing businesses with issues that could cause closure or failure, preventing companies from relocating to other communities. A strong business retention and expansion program preserves and increases local jobs, preserves, and increases local tax revenues, maintains or diversifies the local economy, and maintains or diversifies access to goods and services.

Successful business retention programs provide data and intelligence to strategically attract new companies to a community and foster the creation of new businesses.

How can we help?

Economic Developers with PKED seek to schedule one-to-one interviews to better understand business needs, and to identify industry opportunities and challenges. Annually, PKED conducts a business count survey to study the business dynamics that shape the community and impact  local employers, planners, and workforce.

PKED also works with many partners and industry associations to ensure that business needs are acknowledged, and programs are created to support industry as effectively as possible across all sectors.

Agencies such as Employment Planning & Counselling, Fleming Crew, and Agilec are not-for-profit, charitable organizations that aim to provide superior career development and employment-related programs and services.

Aerial photo of Township of Havelock-Belmont-Methuen

Looking to learn more about exporting?

  • Providing one-to-one consultations on specific issues, assist businesses in troubleshooting problems and develop solutions
  • Finding land or buildings for future operations
  • Assisting businesses and organizations with applications, proposals to local, provincial, and federal programs
  • Facilitating and recommending access points to secure financing related to business operations
  • Assessing market research and feasibility opportunities
  • Developing strategic partnerships with provincial and federal agencies, including trade and export resources
  • Keeping up-to-date on government legislation and funding programs for business
  • Providing direction, consultative services, and advice on issues and services to the community across all sectors
  • Gathering and sharing data relevant to local planning departments to implement policies that will benefit the regional business environment
  • Providing connections with local community partners and organizations, including staffing and training agencies
  • Supporting businesses to grow, expand or enhance their product offerings  experiential product development
  • Connecting businesses with industry resources and research to assist in retention, growth and expansion
  • Liaising with and collaborating on referrals to Innovation Cluster Peterborough & the Kawarthas for research and development support to test or commercialize products
  • Providing marketing and promotional support on business expansions by liaising with  local and national media, and industry associations
  • Recommending and coordinating supply chain and business-to-business connections for businesses
  • Assist in recruiting new talent to the region and ensuring a connection between  educational institutions and the local economy
  • Collecting and reporting on data related to the regional business environment, including issues related to infrastructure, licensing, permits, etc.
  • Supporting and developing education and training programs of economic benefit to the region in cooperation with existing education and training organizations
  • Assisting with permitting, licensing, or infrastructure needs
  • Providing technical assistance for exporting, supply chain, marketing development, post-disaster continuity, and other growth opportunities and challenges
  • Providing export resources

Local Businesses

2022 Business Count

In 2022, the Peterborough & the Kawarthas Economic Development (PKED) team conducted the region’s annual Business Count Survey.

The purpose of the project is to record a comprehensive inventory of businesses in the City and County of Peterborough and to identify their associated industry and employment figures.

Local Consumers

aerial view of city's lakeshore

Relocation Support

Peterborough & the Kawarthas Economic Development maintains a Relocation Guide to assist residents, students and businesses settling in the Peterborough & the Kawarthas region.