About the Founder

Chris Gibbons is the founder of the National Center for Economic Gardening (NCEG)®, recognized as the pioneer of the Economic Gardening movement in the United States.

Serving as NCEG’s visionary leader since 2008, Chris developed and implemented the original entrepreneurial approach to economic development in Littleton, Colorado, where he served as Director of Business/Industry Affairs. The innovative approach set a national standard for fostering local, stage 2 business growth and job creation—prioritizing homegrown entrepreneurship over traditional business recruitment.

Chris’s work has helped transform the landscape of economic development, shifting the focus of communities nationwide toward nurturing local businesses poised for significant expansion. With more than four decades of experience in city planning, community development, and business strategy, he has published extensively on Economic Gardening and received recognition in economic development from the International Economic Development Council, and Inc Magazine among others.

A graduate of the University of Oklahoma with an advanced degree in regional and city planning, Chris is widely regarded as an expert in entrepreneurship, public-private partnerships, and local government innovation. Today, through the NCEG, he continues to champion evidence-based, entrepreneur-centric development strategies that empower communities to cultivate their own economic prosperity.

The signature difference of Economic Gardening is an understanding:

of the role of local companies in creating jobs
of the role of stage 2 growth companies in driving local economies
that commoditization causes poverty and innovation is the source of new wealth
that temperament plays a role in company success
that sales probabilities increase in volatile environments
that there are common root issues behind many of the constraints on company growth

Chris Gibbons lives in Evergreen, Colorado at the foot of Mount Evans.