Big brother is watching over you: the counselling of growing SMEs in Belgium

The ‘region’ as an economic entity is again becoming important. Today's regional development policy however is structured in a totally new way. For instance, the increasing participation of large companies in regional development is characteristic. The SME counselling project, which is assessed in this article, is the European figure-head of this participation. The project forms part of a larger strategic plan for the area. The main objective is to encourage the expansion of existing businesses by professionalization of the management. Progress has been made above all in the field of strategic planning. The development of a network of entrepreneurs was less important, although the mutual contacts acted as an incentive to the individual entrepreneur.