Formed in 1994 as a professional association, Business Retention & Expansion International (BREI) in June presented its 2025 Awards of Excellence at the organization’s annual conference in Cheyenne, Wyoming. By special arrangement with BREI and with additional insights from other sources, here are excerpted summaries of why the four award winners earned this coveted honor.
Outstanding Single Community (Population Under 20,000): Kilgore Economic Development Corporation – KeepRite Refrigeration Expansion (Kilgore, Texas)
Kilgore, Texas, population 15,000, has long been a manufacturing hub in East Texas. Yet in 2023, the community faced the very real threat of losing a major employer: KeepRite Refrigeration, the nation’s leading commercial refrigeration manufacturer. Landlocked at its Longview site and actively exploring relocation to the Dallas metro area, the company’s departure would have left a deep economic void.
Recognizing the stakes, the Kilgore Economic Development Corporation (KEDC) sprang into action, orchestrating a collaborative rescue mission that ultimately became a case study in modern business retention.
Partnering with the Longview Economic Development Corporation, Gregg County, the City of Kilgore, Kilgore College and Kilgore ISD, KEDC built a comprehensive package of incentives including tax abatements, tax rebates, freeport exemptions, and direct cash and land support that not only convinced KeepRite to stay but to expand.
In June 2024, community leaders, employees and local officials broke ground on a $55 million facility at Synergy Park. The expansion secures 150 retained jobs and 60 new positions over the next decade, generating an estimated $122 million in salaries.
Kilgore College also committed to expanding its workforce training programs to meet the refrigeration industry’s unique skills needs. KEDC Executive Director Lisa Denton said in a release that a “No Poaching” mantra shared by Kilgore EDC and Longview EDC was crucial, noting that “poaching and moving companies from one community to another doesn’t gain anything for the region. Collaboration between communities in the region is vitally important for economic development because we all share the same labor shed and the amenities that make our region attractive.”
Outstanding Multi-Community (Population Under 50,000): Ohio State University & Ohio Sea Grant – Ottawa County, Ohio BR&E Program
Ottawa County, Ohio, tackled a broader challenge than Kilgore: ensuring the vitality of dozens of small businesses across a dispersed rural region. Partnering with Ohio State University Extension and the Ohio Sea Grant College Program, local leaders launched a countywide business retention and expansion program in 2024.
In two months, the team surveyed 75 businesses with volunteer help, producing a comprehensive snapshot of the county’s business climate. Opportunities and challenges were revealed, from workforce shortages to modernization needs. The program fostered new partnerships among chambers of commerce in Port Clinton, Put-in-Bay, Marblehead Peninsula, Oak Harbor, Genoa and Elmore. Action items included enhancing cooperation among business, government and education leaders, improving workforce quality and quantity, connecting local businesses with state and federal resources, and relaying business concerns directly to policymakers.
The results were striking. The program documented 2,184 jobs retained and 453 jobs created, translating into $154 million in personal income for the local economy. Remarkably, 68 of 75 businesses surveyed signaled plans to expand, modernize or renovate within the next three years, a testament to the program’s catalytic effect.
Outstanding Multi-Community (Population Over 100,000) & Impact Award: County of Grande Prairie – Business Retention & Expansion Program (Grande Prairie, Alberta)
In northwestern Alberta, Grande Prairie County has become a regional powerhouse for BR&E. Since 2018, its county-wide BR&E program has conducted over 1,050 business surveys, averaging 150 to 160 annually, at a modest investment of just C$180,000.
The program’s strength lies in its structured, scalable methodology. Data from surveys is analyzed through HubSpot and mapped via GIS, informing not only economic development strategies but also county emergency operations. Partnerships have also flourished under the Business Support Network (BSN), launched in 2019. Through targeted programming and peer-to-peer roundtables, the BSN now supports over 500 businesses and includes 11 steering committee members.
Outstanding State/Province Award: Mississippi Development Authority – Project Expansion Vulcan (Jackson, Mississippi)
The Mississippi Development Authority (MDA) demonstrated how strategic coordination can attract transformative investment while supporting existing industry. Project Expansion Vulcan, launched in 2024, focused on expanding ROCKWOOL’s Marshall County facility in Byhalia, Mississippi. The expansion introduced a new production line for advanced stone wool insulation products incorporating technologies designed to enhance water repellency and corrosion resistance. The project kept 200 existing jobs while creating 30 new full-time ones at $30 per hour, with potential for future growth.
More significantly, the initiative leveraged Mississippi’s innovative MFLEX incentive program, a streamlined tax credit system allowing companies to offset state tax liabilities over 10 years. By aligning incentives with workforce development programs including forklift, machining, welding and automation training, MDA ensured the expansion addressed both business and labor needs.
