Economic development training session in Sofia
Almost all partnerships that were established in Bulgaria through the Bulgaria Technical Twinning/Resource Cities Program (BRCP) focused on Local Economic Development (LED) and Marketing. This is a strong indication of Bulgarian local governments’ priorities. In response to this priority, the BRCP devoted significant effort and resources to enhance and strengthen the local economic capacities within Bulgarian municipalities.
The later program activities built on the work and achievements of fourteen Bulgarian municipalities that took the initiative to develop municipal profiles, marketing brochures, strategic plans, and/or other materials with the assistance of the U.S. Resource Cities during the previous phases of the program. This group partnership brought together these fourteen Bulgarian municipalities with a Resource Group of U.S. cities (Auburn, Aabama; Kettering, Ohio; and West Carrollton, Ohio, as team leaders, and West Bend, Wisconsin; Abington, Pennsylvania; Golden, Colorado; and Ontario, California) to develop a Consortium for Local Economic Development and Marketing in Bulgaria.
The goals of the LED and Marketing program were:
- To enhance and further build upon the existing Economic Development and Marketing practices of the fourteen Bulgarian municipalities
- To market Bulgarian municipalities and prepare them to meet the needs of the national and international business community
- To increase the LED capacities of the Bulgarian municipalities to apply a professional approach in business retention and recruitment and to lead active economic development programs.
Representatives of the Bulgarian local governments expressed their full support for creating professional LED positions and building capacity within their municipalities, enabling them to lead active economic development programs. As a result of an orientation meeting in early 2003, all fourteen municipalities appointed, re-appointed, or hired new LED professionals and sent representatives to a Basic Economic Development Course, which was delivered by the Auburn, Alabama, economic development team in Sofia, Bulgaria. Guidelines and a time frame for LED and Marketing program implementation were disseminated among the group, and each LED professional was assigned the task of conducting an assessment of community resources.
An important component of the LED Consortium involved training and certification. Each Bulgarian municipality was expected to meet the requirements of the LED Certification Program, including a self-assessment of readiness, action plan preparation and implementation, and a final inspection in May 2004 by the Bulgarian Foundation for Local Government Reform (FLGR) and U.S. partners to become certified. Each municipality also undertook a specific LED project, with assistance from U.S. counterparts, with the goals of attracting investment to their municipalities and creating jobs. Several of the municipalities represented themselves, the LED Consortium, and Bulgaria, at the Hanover Trade Show in Hanover, Germany, in April 2004. The new collaborative website, www.invest.bg, which provides information on municipal infrastructure and available resources in each municipality, was unveiled in Hanover.
The Bulgaria Best Practices Symposium for phase IV of the Resource Cities Program took place in June 2004 in Varna, Bulgaria. Participants in the LED Consortium highlighted their work through case studies and presentations and disseminated their marketing materials to more than 100 colleagues and guests. Twelve municipalities received certification as Business Ready Municipalities for the period of one year. LED specialists also received certification as such by FLGR and ICMA and awards were given to fifteen municipalities for their achievements in the LED process.