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DARDENNE PRAIRIE RECEIVES PRESTIGIOUS INTERNATIONAL ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT AWARD


The City of Dardenne Prairie recently received the Community Impact award from Business Retention and Expansion International (BREI). BREI has members throughout the United States and Canada whose mission is to, “strengthen the connections between companies and the community while encouraging each business to grow in the community.” The award for Best Business Retention Program for a city under 20,000 residents was awarded to Dardenne Prairie during BREI’s 2021 Annual Conference. The program earning this honor is “Retention through Relocation.”

“Retention Through Relocation” has successfully gained the trust of many Dardenne Prairie businesses as a problem-solving resource for retention and expansion. The organization measures success by the number of businesses retained or working to find solutions within the community. In addition, they focus on tangible evidence such as follow-up meetings between landlords, City staff, and business owners. Significant effort is being expended to identify and categorize possible sites for relocation for effected businesses, along with the network of contacts for each site.

“Businesses are always in a state of change and evolution,” explained John Gotway, Mayor of Dardenne Prairie. “To be successful in retaining existing businesses in our community, Dardenne Prairie becomes a team with our local business owners and offers them solutions to their needs. When our community businesses are successful, Dardenne Prairie will remain successful.”

Ryan Kelly, Executive Director of Business Retention and Expansion International (BREI), states, “We are very proud of the City of Dardenne Prairie for their work with the ‘Retention Through Relocation’ program. Retaining and growing local businesses is critical to any community, but especially in a post-COVID. Dardenne Prairie exemplifies how economic developers are excelling in supporting their local communities.”

Located in St. Charles County, the City of Dardenne Prairie is home to shopping, parks, restaurants and more. For more information about businesses and economic development opportunities in Dardenne Prairie, visit www.dardenneprairie.org or contact the City’s Economic Development Coordinator at 636-755-5315 or Doug@dardenneprairie.org.

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