National Center for
Economic Gardening
The nation’s original entrepreneurship-led economic development program
Economic Gardening® is the gold standard for an entrepreneurship-led approach to economic development. The program focuses on supporting local stage 2 growth companies with strategic information and frameworks to grow jobs locally.
Economic Gardening® is the oldest and best tested entrepreneurship-led economic development program in the country. In 1987, Chris Gibbons and Jim Woods brainstormed a groundbreaking idea: develop an entrepreneurial approach to economic development. At the time, the standard practice was to recruit companies from other communities (economic hunting). The unconventional thesis suggested that economic developers could stay at home and help local entrepreneurs grow their companies (economic gardening).
Over time, this new idea spread across the nation, and today entrepreneurship has become a standard part of many economic development portfolios. Economic Gardening’s pioneering work has been recognized worldwide and has received a number of national awards.
About the Program
Advantages of the Entrepreneurship-led Economic Gardening Approach
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Stronger tax base, More quality jobs
Measurable outcomes tied to entrepreneurship-led economic development using Economic Gardening
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Easy to Start
A trained national teams, tested tools, ready to deploy
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Three Decades of Proven Results
The original and most-tested approach in the field
Interested in learning more about the National Center for Economic Gardening?