Cluster Strategy
BOB's Cluster Strategy Program was completed in March 2010.
BOB's Cluster Strategy History
BOB's industry cluster strategy brought together private and public sector stakeholders to drive innovation and growth to the benefit of all the companies in the cluster.
Clusters met regularly to discuss the state of their industry in the Downtown Eastside. They identified problems and opportunities as well as developing initiatives to address them. BOB provided guidance, resources, introductions, and expertise as cluster participants work together for the betterment of the industry as a whole.
BOB is uniquely positioned in the inner-city to bring together at one table: business leaders, all three levels of government, industry associations, business improvement agencies, social enterprises, non-profits, and NGOs.
Past clusters included Tourism & Hospitality, Construction, Creative Industries, as well as our Green Inner-city Cluster. BOB works with many committed and progressive organizations on exciting initiatives such as the Gastown/Chinatown Pedicab service, Construction Business Directory and SOLEfood Urban Farm.
About the Cluster Strategy
BOB's cluster strategy is modelled on successful initiatives in American inner-cities and was developed with the consultation of the Initiative for a Competitive Inner City (ICIC), a not-for-profit agency founded by Harvard University professor Dr. Michael Porter.
Dr. Porter is an internationally recognized expert in strategy and industry competitiveness. Building on his work in "The Competitive Advantage of Nations", Dr. Porter identified the following three ways clusters affect competition:
- by increasing the productivity of the companies in the cluster,
- by driving innovation in the field,
- by stimulating new business in the field.