Over the past few months, our team has been gathering your input for a new strategic plan which will help us differentiate our organization, create value for members and partners, and help us achieve organizational sustainability into the future.

Thank you for your participation in our survey, focus groups and interviews. Your feedback and insights are helping shape our way forward.

Based on your input, we are currently drafting a new strategic plan and will share this plan with you in early April. For now, I’d like to share an update on what we’ve heard from you, our valued members and partners.

Your feedback has indicated that econext should prioritize: market and opportunity development; advocacy and government relations; enhanced communication, engagement and reporting; and developing a sustainable organization. Nine key areas were highlighted during our engagement process, and they are as follows:

1) Strategic focus: Do fewer things more deliberately

• Members consistently expressed high trust and satisfaction with econext, but also expressed concern that the organization appears to be trying to do too much.
• Strategically, econext should:
  • Clearly articulate its core role at the intersection of economic development, environmental performance, workforce development, and policy
  • Prioritize initiatives that deliver tangible, member-facing outcomes
  • Be disciplined about saying no to work that falls outside of our strategic sweet spot
• Strategic clarity will help manage expectations, reinforce value, and strengthen differentiation in an increasingly crowded ecosystem.

2) Advocacy as a core strategic function (with visibility)

• While advocacy activity is occurring, members report not seeing or understanding it.
• Strategically, econext should:
  • Formalize its advocacy and policy coordination role (e.g., consider elevating advocacy and coordination as a core and visible pillar of our strategy)
  • Convene sector, or issue-specific working groups to align positions
  • Communicate advocacy goals, actions, and outcomes clearly and consistently
• Success in this area depends not only on advocacy activity, but on making that activity visible and credible to members.

3) Networking and convening 

• Networking and convening are econext’s strongest and most consistently valued assets.
• Strategically, econext should:
  • Move toward more intentional and curated networking
  • Increase B2B-focused events with clear business development outcomes
  • Use convening as a tool for coordination, business development and problem-solving
• Events and convening should increasingly support action and alignment, not just information sharing.

4) Practical value over symbolic leadership

• Members place the highest value on econext when the organization delivers tangible, action-oriented outcomes.
• Strategically, econext should:
  • Ensure projects have clear member and partner value propositions
  • Consider prioritizing services that members would be willing to pay for
• This orientation can help support long-term organizational sustainability.

5) Workforce development as a strategic growth area

• Workforce challenges cut across nearly all sectors, including recruitment, retention, and skills alignment. Members already see econext as a trusted workforce partner.
• Strategically, econext can strengthen this position by:
  • Better coordinating employers, educators and government
  • Focusing on employer-driven training and micro-credentials
  • Embedding inclusion as a strategic advantage, including newcomer and Indigenous participation
• Clearer communication about workforce initiatives and gaps can reduce duplication and increase perceived impact.

6) Regional inclusion

• Some members identified a perceived focus on St. John’s and the Northeast Avalon.
• Strategically, econext should:
  • Design programs with regional delivery in mind
  • Plan targeted engagement in other provincial business centres
  • Use regional engagement to surface new opportunities and markets
  • Regularly communicate about events and programs taking place in other parts of the province
• Regional inclusion should be focused on opportunity creation, not simply outreach.

7) Broaden the narrative beyond clean energy

• While clean energy remains central to sustainable economic development in NL, members from other sectors want greater visibility and tailored value.
• Strategically, econext should:
  • More consistently integrate other sectors
  • Position waste and circular economy initiatives as business efficiency and innovation opportunities
• This approach would reinforce econext’s positioning as a whole-of-economy organization.

8) Intelligence and sense-making as a value proposition

• Members rely on econext to help them navigate rapid change and uncertainty.
• Strategically, econext should:
  • Focus on curating and prioritizing information rather than increasing volume
  • Provide forward-looking insights with 1–3 year outlooks
• Effective sense-making strengthens engagement without increasing communication fatigue.

9) Intentional member engagement

• Members would like to see more proactive and structured engagement.
• Strategically, econext should:
  • Build one-to-one member engagement into its operating model
  • Create clear pathways for members to provide input into priorities
  • Improve engagement of SMEs, rural members, and traditional sectors
• Proactive engagement supports retention, relevance and advocacy credibility.

If you have any thoughts on this summary, please reach out anytime at laura@econext.ca.

I look forward to sharing our new strategic plan with you in early April.

Thanks again for your input and support.

Laura

PARTNER PROMOTION