How Braintree, MA built a proactive BR&E program from the ground up

With more than 2,000 businesses and a newly established economic development function, Braintree used Bludot to centralize business intelligence, listen systematically to local employers, and turn what it learned into more targeted outreach.

When Catherine Rollins stepped into the role of Economic Development Director for the Town of Braintree, Massachusetts, she inherited a community with no shortage of economic assets.

Braintree is home to the South Shore Plaza and its roughly 200 tenants, active industrial parks, major employers, and a municipal electric utility that gives the community a distinctive competitive advantage.

What Braintree did not have was a centralized system for understanding and managing its relationships with those businesses.

Before the Town created a dedicated economic development position, business engagement happened across different parts of the organization. Information was available, but accessing it often depended on knowing who had the history and where to find it.

“Prior to a designated economic development position, our efforts were decentralized, and access to information depended on legacy institutional memory rather than a modern, structured tracking system.”

For Rollins, building an economic development program meant creating that structure without losing sight of what matters most: the relationships behind the data.

Getting to know more than 2,000 businesses

One of Rollins' first challenges was simply understanding the breadth of Braintree's business community.

The Town's economy spans major retail, corporate offices, industrial businesses, light manufacturing, and smaller local employers. No single spreadsheet or existing source could provide the context she needed to understand all of them.

So she started with the businesses themselves.

“My approach was simple: get out from behind the desk, conduct proactive site visits, engage directly with business owners, and partner with regional stakeholders to listen to their immediate needs.”

That direct engagement became the foundation for the BR&E program Rollins wanted to build.

But with more than 2,000 businesses, relationships alone needed a system behind them.

Braintree began using Bludot to centralize its business information and engagement history, giving Rollins a way to organize what she was learning as she built relationships across the community.

Starting a proactive BR&E program by listening

Rollins did not want Braintree's BR&E program to begin with assumptions about what businesses needed.

She wanted businesses to tell the Town.

One of her first priorities was creating and launching a business sentiment survey through Bludot. The goal was to understand how businesses viewed operating in Braintree and where local government could better support them.

“I wanted a proactive, data-informed Business Retention and Expansion (BR&E) program that prioritized high-touch relationships and measurable outcomes.”

The survey reached a cross-section of Braintree businesses and gave the Town actionable feedback about both its strengths and potential areas for improvement.

That information provided something more valuable than a snapshot of business sentiment. It gave Rollins a starting point for deciding where to focus conversations, outreach, and future economic development efforts.

Turning business data into targeted outreach

Centralizing Braintree's business information also made it easier to act when an opportunity arose.

Rollins recently learned about a free training program available to businesses meeting specific size and annual revenue criteria.

Without a structured database, identifying the right businesses could have meant manually searching through lists or sending the opportunity broadly and hoping it reached the right audience.

Using Bludot, Rollins could quickly narrow Braintree's more than 2,000 businesses to the companies that fit the program's requirements and communicate directly with them.

“This software enabled me to identify easily the local businesses who could benefit from the program and communicate the opportunity directly to them.”

It is a simple example of an important shift.

Braintree's business database is not just a record of who operates in town. Business type, geography, size, engagement history, survey responses, and other information can help determine who the Town should reach and why.

That makes outreach more relevant for businesses and more manageable for a lean economic development operation.

Building a single point of contact for business

As Rollins spent more time with local employers, a consistent theme emerged.

Businesses wanted predictability. They wanted clear communication. And when they had a question or challenge, they wanted someone inside Town Hall who could help them navigate it.

“Whether it’s navigating local zoning, understanding utility infrastructure capacities, or seeking support for workforce and expansion efforts, they appreciate having a single point of contact at Town Hall who advocates for their growth and listens to their operational challenges.”

That does not mean economic development owns every issue a business encounters.

It means the economic development office can maintain the relationship and the context around it.

By keeping business information, outreach, notes, survey responses, and other engagement organized in Bludot, Braintree can build a more complete record of those relationships as the program grows.

Instead of relying on institutional memory, the history becomes part of the Town's economic development infrastructure.

Creating momentum with the business community

One of the most encouraging discoveries during Rollins' first year has been how willing Braintree businesses are to participate.

Established businesses want to help other companies succeed. Newer businesses are willing to share what they learned navigating the startup process. Business leaders have shown pride in the community and an interest in working more closely with the Town.

“Business leaders were eager to partner with the Town and appreciated the sense of momentum that has developed over the last couple of years.”

That engagement gives Braintree a strong foundation for the next phase of its economic development strategy.

Rollins plans to continue expanding relationships with business leaders while focusing on smart land use and corridor growth, business expansion, modern industrial retention, and strategic recruitment.

The business intelligence Braintree is building today can help inform each of those priorities.

Technology supports the relationship. It does not replace it.

For economic developers stepping into a new role or building a BR&E program of their own, Rollins' advice is straightforward.

Start with people.

“Prioritize human relationships first. Technology gives you the structure to organize your data and boosts productivity, but showing up in person, asking thoughtful questions, and following through on small wins is what builds long-term trust with your business community.”

That philosophy also captures the role Bludot plays in Braintree.

The technology gives Rollins a structured way to understand more than 2,000 businesses, organize what she learns through outreach, capture feedback through surveys, and turn business data into targeted action.

But the purpose of that structure is not simply better data.

It is helping Braintree build stronger relationships with the businesses behind it.

To see the impact Bludot could have on your BR&E program, schedule a demo today.