By implementing the BAS (Business Attraction Strategies) project, the project partners aimed to enhance the business attractiveness of European cities by equipping local authorities with the necessary skills and digital tools to attract and retain investments. The project addressed the evolving needs of municipalities in a competitive global environment, where digitalization and innovation are crucial for economic growth. The BAS project empowered local authorities to position their cities as competitive business hubs. Key objectives achieved: - Enhancing Digital Competencies for Business Attraction - Fostering Knowledge Exchange on Business Attraction Strategies - Developing a training needs analysis, a toolbox on business attraction management and an E-learning platform with 2 modules on digital business attraction skills as training sources available for any interested user.
The needs the project partners wanted to address were: -Develop effective business attraction skills in medium-sized municipalities as the primary challenge they face is not only promoting themselves as attractive tourist destinations but also positioning themselves as appealing locations for work and investment. -develop new competencies among municipal employees, foster a competitive business climate, and create tailored place value propositions. -Establishing cross-functional teams with the expertise to attract and facilitate investment has been a priority. -Support the digital transformation of services has become an essential trend in business attraction, particularly accelerated by the COVID-19 crisis. Competition for businesses and investments has increasingly shifted online, requiring municipalities to enhance their digital capabilities. -build business attraction skills while also closing the digital gap. By adopting modern approaches to online branding and marketing, municipal staff have been equipped with the necessary tools to create globally accessible place value propositions. This digital evolution ensures that municipalities remain competitive in an increasingly interconnected and digitalized word.