Business Vitality Initiative : Community Handbook

If you’re not asking these questions, it’s unlikely you’re maximizing the potential of your community. Communities identifying their strengths, their gaps and their unexplored opportunities— that is what’s behind the BVI, a measurement and action process that helps communities harness their business potential. It has been designed to help communities assess their capacity to work with and support entrepreneurs, and to foster business growth. The BVI has been employed in communities across Canada (and recently in Australia) by a team based in Nelson, BC. The CIEL/BVI Team has been nominated for BC’s top award in community economic development and most recently won an award as the region’s most innovative organization. The BVI measures the perceptions of community leaders, business people and citizens about the current business environment in the community and compares the scores to those from other communities using a unique graphical index (the Business Vitality Index).