"Community Fair Play" Development Program

The main objectives of the programme are:

• identification and promotion of investor friendly communities and municipalities
• popularization of the best practices of local governments in the area of investments promotion
• promotion of co-operation between business and communities
• facilitation of networking between communities
• attraction of new investors to communities participating in our programme.

Certification is awarded to communities which provide exceptional investor services, which promote ethical standards for public officers, and which have met programme requirements during the two-stage verification procedure.

"Community Fair Play":

• actively works to attract new investors
• finds the best solutions for the potential investors
• is trustworthy and open to all new investment initiatives
• improves its infrastructure
• ensures the highest investment service standard
• is implementing high ethical standard in its activity.

Programme is executed in five categories:

• rural communities:
• small towns: this category covers municipalities with up to 30,000 inhabitants,
• medium towns: this category covers municipalities between 30,000 and 100,000 inhabitants,
• cities: this category covers municipalities with more than 100 000 inhabitants,
• tourism-oriented communities: this category covers communities where tourism plays an important role or which plan tourism development in the nearest future.

Awards: The communities participating in the "Community Fair Play" Programme may obtain the following awards:

Certificate, title and promotional emblem "Community Fair Play" - Certified Investment Location - awarded to communities which have met the requirements of the programme and have obtained 72 points out of a possible 100 in the two-stage certification process.

"Community Fair Play" statuette - granted by the Awarding Committee to a maximum of the 3 best communities within each programme category.

"Community Fair Play" honourable award - awarded by the Awarding Committee to a maximum of the 3 communities particularly outstanding within each programme category.

The "Certified Investment Location" billboard to be installed at a roadside, granted to all laureates of the specific edition of the programme.

Golden Investment Location - the right to use this title is assigned to communities which have met the requirements of the certification programme in three subsequent editions.

"Community Fair Play" Golden Statuette - the right to use this title is assigned to communities which have met the requirements of the certification programme in five subsequent editions.

History of the Programme
One of the most important tasks of the IPED is to support private entrepreneurship whose development is largely dependent on cooperation between local authorities and entrepreneurs. The above assumption has given rise to the execution of a number of research, training, and promotional projects; some of these are Rural Economy Development (1995), Promotion of Investments by Communities (1996), Investment Strategies of the Communities (1998), Cooperation between Non-governmental Organisations and Local Governments (2001).

However, we do not have to refer to any research results to be able to conclude that cooperation between local authorities and entrepreneurs can be mutually beneficial for them. The benefits for the community arising from good and close cooperation with entrepreneurs may include an increase in the number of jobs, an increase in tax revenues, the creation of new facilities necessary for the community, such as sewage treatment plants, gym halls, schools, etc. On the other hand, the entrepreneurs may obtain better business conditions, better financial terms, and also prestige and social recognition. Such conclusions are also drawn on the basis of information collected during the execution of the subsequent edition of the entrepreneurship culture promotion programme "Business Fair Play". The indisputable success of the programme and unabated interest of entrepreneurs in obtaining the reliability certificate (720 laureates in 2007) indicate clearly that reliability in business, competition in the Olympic spirit, and social responsibility of the business are dear to the Polish entrepreneurs, and become more and more popular owing to the project.

The IPED′s Team concluded that just as there are exemplary entrepreneurs, similarly there are exemplary local communities promoting sustainable development beneficial both for the local community as well as for the business. As we wanted to recognise such communities, we have created a special programme for them - the "Community Fair Play" - Certified Investment Location.

The programme is addressed to communities throughout Poland. Single edition of the programme lasts for a whole year and progresses in two stages. To be able to participate in it, a community has to certify that in the past year investment undertakings were executed in its territory, it had the right to make administrative decisions concerning investments, i.e. such right was not suspended, and no compulsory administration was placed in the community (details of participation rules are stated in Rules 2008).

Verification Procedures:

Stage one
The interested communities submit a written programme entry declaration. Then they complete a questionnaire, which apart from the information about the economic character of the community, the number of Community Office employees, the community′s budget, income, and expenses, has to contain true and reliable answers to questions concerning the following: investment offer, economic and investment promotion carried out by the community, scope and quality of community′s own investments, business infrastructure in the community, access to technical infrastructure, organisation of services for investors, openness of the local community towards external investors, pro-ecological nature of investments in the community and their adjustment to the needs of the disabled, existing achievements in investment attraction, economic values of the community, and conditions for carrying out business activity. In the first stage of the programme, the communities enclose additional documentation to the thoroughly completed questionnaire. Such additional documentation contains, for example, complete investment offers or other materials encouraging the location of investment projects in the community, such as brochures, folders, etc. The answers contained in the questionnaire are scored. The community has to obtain a minimum 72 out of 100 possible points to qualify to the second stage.

Stage two

Audit
In stage two, programme auditors visit all communities qualified to this stage. They verify the credibility of information contained in the questionnaires and may request the representatives of the communities to provide more specific data, additional information and submit the relevant documents. Within the framework of such an audit procedure in the community, apart from the interviews with the representatives of the given community, a meeting is organised with persons who are not employed by the community - representatives of utilities suppliers (of electricity, gas, water, telephone, etc.), entrepreneurs investing in the community, representatives of local business organisations, financial or educational institutions, the local job centre, etc.

Investor survey
An additional important element of the programme participants′ verification is a survey among randomly selected investors who have completed or are conducting an investment process in the specific community. Owing to this, investors themselves participate in the assessment of communities′ friendliness towards them; they score such items as: employee qualifications in the services for investors, speed of service, correctness of administrative decisions made, how timely liabilities are met, how accessible is the office (location, parking, access roads, etc.), quality of written information about the procedures, conditions, and formal requirements, care about investors′ costs and time (indication of cost- and time-saving solutions), transparency of the applied investment execution rules, care about financial security, i.e. suggestion of investment risk limiting solutions, personal information, i.e. commitment of the employees to assistance to investors. The Investors′ scores are used for the preparation of a so-called benchmark analysis - a list is created of communities ordered by the scores awarded to them by investors - from the community with the highest score to the one with the lowest score. As a result of this list, the community′s local government is able to learn how their community compares in respect of friendliness to investors to other communities. The results of the benchmark analysis are confidential and are presented only to the interested community. The total score (a minimum of 72 out of 100 possible points) awarded by auditors and investors and obtained on the basis of the questionnaire from stage one of the programme is the basis for granting the of the "Community Fair Play " promotional title and certificate to the community by the Awarding Committee. The Awarding Committee includes entrepreneurs and representatives of Voivodeship Marshal′s Offices, a representative of the Polish Information and Foreign Investment Agency, Polish Agency for Enterprise Development and a representative of the Polish Tourist Organisation.

Final celebration
Every edition of the programme ends with a celebration, usually held in September or October. The grand gala of the 6 th edition of the "Community Fair Play" - Certified Investment Location Programme took place on 7th November 2007. The gala was held in the Concert Hall in the Palace of Culture of Science in Warsaw. 161 communities were competing for the 2007 "Fair Play Community" title. Last gala was attended by many guests and representatives of winning communities and municipalities. The gala started with a press conference during which the main assumptions and rules of the programme were presented to journalists, as was the progress of the concluding edition. The list of the last edition winners is available on: www.fairplay.pl

Administrator portalu: CPB