Investment, therefore, is key to economic development in that it creates new assets and adds to a region’ s productive capacity by bringing in new capital, new businesses, new technology and new expertise.
Investment creates employment and expenditure multipliers. Done well, investment attraction is a precursor to more local jobs and more local expenditure, creating a virtuous cycle of economic development.
If done well, attracting new investment can generate opportunities for employment, creating a multiplier effect of more people, more investment and more jobs. More jobs and consumer expenditure signal further business investment, creating more economic activity.
This means more rates for councils and more taxation revenue for the State and Federal governments. The outcome is a‘ virtuous cycle’ of more expenditure, more jobs and more investment in the region as a place in which to live, learn, work and prosper.
THE IMPORTANCE OF A STRATEGIC APPROACH For any region, strategies to attract investment will provide an important catalyst for new growth and economic development. However, to be successful, an investment enhancement strategy will also encourage new investment and growth from business and industry already located in the region. This is referred to as‘ investment or re-investment from within’.
As a benchmark, it is considered( based on various studies, strategies and surveys) that around 60-70 % of business investment in a region comes from incumbent operators. SMEs( small and medium-sized enterprises) account for around two-thirds of jobs in most OECD countries, and this is the case throughout regional Australia. Hence, efforts to grow investment should include a strong focus on industries that can tie into the region’ s existing and evolving industrial structure.
Investment starts at home. Around 60 – 70 % of investment may come from incumbent businesses. Investment attraction should therefore encompass business retention, expansion and reinvestment.
Source: SC Lennon & Associates
This means building on comparative and competitive advantage. A region’ s comparative advantage stems from its geography, the natural environment, amenity and location, its population and the availability of its natural resources. Businesses can use a region’ s comparative advantage to build a competitive advantage, which is developed through a combination of factors such as knowledge, human and financial resources, skills, entrepreneurship and the ability to innovate. This is where new investment plays a key role.
How successful regions are in attracting investment relies in large part on how well they can articulate their value proposition.
SELLING THE INVESTMENT PROPOSITION: THE PROSPECTUS Councils and regional development agencies can facilitate investment by promoting what their local area and wider region has to offer prospective investors in a strategic and targeted fashion. Specifically, they should find ways to market, promote and facilitate investment opportunities and priority projects to support the development of both existing and emerging growth industries.
An economic development strategy can provide the overarching framework to guide investment attraction. An investment prospectus can then be developed and disseminated as the practical tool used to promote the region’ s investment proposition.
An investment prospectus is essentially a marketing tool designed to target a particular audience. And there are different audiences. For example, a prospectus may be used to:
• Attract new business and industry to a region or local government area;
• Encourage more investment from within( existing businesses);
• Attract people( in which case the document also presents as a‘ liveability prospectus’); or
• Attract government funding for key infrastructure and services( essential for supporting grant funding bids).
Know your audience. A prospectus may target investors, established local businesses, skilled workers, government agencies, or several of these. Its content and messaging should reflect the intended reader.
Some prospectuses are a mix of a strategic document( an investment attraction strategy) and a promotional / marketing document. In many cases, the primary role of an investment prospectus is to advocate for government and private sector investment in the region concerned, and in many cases, an investment prospectus will have multiple audiences.
WHAT ARE INVESTORS LOOKING FOR? Investors will not commit to a region or local government area based on the contents of an investment prospectus alone. The purpose of a prospectus is to provide an introduction, to whet an investor’ s appetite to delve deeper and learn more about the area concerned and what it has to offer.
Essentially, the purpose of an investment prospectus is to establish a level of confidence in a region and its future by demonstrating the council’ s and other key agencies’ commitment to a prosperous future by investing in the enablers of economic activity, including essential infrastructure and services.
VOL 19 NO 2 2026 36 www. edaustralia. com. au