For counties and county EDCs
The county rarely issues the permit, but it is where the expansion project, the workforce program, the road and the state incentive meet. BRE Pulse gives a county EDC one record across every municipality it serves and a way to show the commission what the program produced.
Problems you already recognize
Every municipality has a different list, or none
Coverage is uneven: the two cities with staff know their employers; the townships do not.
Referrals go out and never come back
You sent the business to Michigan Works! or the SBDC. Did anyone follow up? Did it help?
The annual report counts visits, not outcomes
"Businesses assisted" is an output. Jobs retained, investment committed and problems resolved are outcomes, and they need to be kept separate from what was merely proposed.
The BRE (Business Retention & Expansion) use case
One organization, a service area of every municipality in the county, one business universe built from the county's own data plus whatever each municipality can add. Referrals are logged with the partner and the outcome. Cases carry the agencies involved. The monthly report separates proposed, committed and completed investment; the commission briefing names no business. When the Network package ships, municipalities and the county work the same case with their own permissions.
About BRE Pulse →Example outcomes
- A county-wide universe with coverage by municipality, so gaps are visible.
- Referral outcomes you can report, partner by partner.
- Commission briefings with investment and jobs by stage and small-business coverage on its own line.
