Redevelopment Institute Podcast explores NCEG – Leslie Parrish

MayMay/TueTue/202620262026

In the Redevelopment Trailblazers podcast, National Center for Economic Gardening founder Chris Gibbons explains how communities can build sustainable wealth by supporting "Stage 2" companies—locally grown firms with 10–100 employees and up to $50 million in revenue. Unlike traditional economic development that focuses on recruiting outside corporations, Economic Gardening provides high-growth local businesses with the sophisticated strategic tools usually reserved for the Fortune 500, such as market research, competitor intelligence, and GIS lifestyle mapping.

Gibbons shares several success stories illustrating the program's versatility, from a small-town Kansas porch banner maker who used neighborhood-level data to scale her workforce, to a West Virginia software firm that identified new markets for trucking scales through Department of Transportation records. For agencies interested in boosting their local economy, Gibbons recommends starting with a five-company pilot project. This "toe-in-the-water" approach allows leaders to see tangible results and CEO feedback before committing to a full-scale program.

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Redevelopment Institute Podcast Page

Redevelopment Institute

Strong Towns features Economic Gardening & Chris Gibbons

SepSep/WedWed/202120212021

In its feature “This Is How You Grow a Local Economy,” Strong Towns / Charles Marohn explore how Economic Gardening aligns with their “Neighborhoods First” philosophy and why communities that overlook this strategy are “missing out.” The article presents Economic Gardening as practical and complementary to incentive-driven recruitment.

Strong Towns mission makes their interest in Economic Gardening a natural fit, especially where local economic growth depends on building from within, rather than chasing outside wins.

Their coverage helps broaden the conversation around practical, entrepreneur-focused economic development strategies that communities can apply in real terms.

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Strong Towns – How YOU Grow a Local Economy

Pathways to Rural Prosperity Podcast with Don Macke & Chris Gibbons

AugAug/SatSat/202120212021

Chris joins Don Macke of E2 to explore how sophisticated market research can strengthen an entrepreneurial ecosystem and support growth‑oriented firms.

They reflects on the origins of the Economic Gardening approach and Chris shares concrete examples of how it has helped entrepreneurs expand their markets and create impact in their communities.

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Economic Gardening – An Entrepreneurial Movement

The Economic Gardener: Chris Gibbons with Dell Gines

JulJul/SunSun/202120212021

In this featured conversation, Dell Gines of the Federal Reserve Bank of Kansas City interviews Chris Gibbons, founder of Economic Gardening®, on how communities can grow jobs by growing their own companies. Gibbons explains how Littleton, Colorado shifted from chasing large employers to supporting local Stage Two firms (10–100 employees) with sophisticated market research, infrastructure, and ecosystem support—an approach that helped pioneer entrepreneurship-led economic development.

Gibbons and Gines discuss why innovation-exporting companies are the real engines of local wealth and how the National Center for Economic Gardening equips communities to work with these growth firms in a disciplined, trademarked way. This interview offers NCEG partners a concise primer on the core concepts, origins, and practice of Economic Gardening