Traditional economic development focuses on recruiting companies from outside the region (economic hunting) Economic Gardening focuses on growing local companies that are already rooted in your community.

Second Stage firms ($1–50 million in sales and 10–99 employees) have proof of product, proof of market, and proven management, but often lack access to higher-level tools and strategic insight used by larger corporations.

Helping this group grow is an efficient way to expand the local job base without relying on incentives.

Research shows that 35–40% of new jobs in a community come from this relatively small band of firms, which represents about 10–15% of all companies.

• Revenue: At least $1 million in sales ($650,000 in rural communities).
• Employment: At least 10 employees (6 in rural communities).
• History: Demonstrated growth in the past four years.
• Market: External to the community local, or retail; Main Street or Stage 1 firms are not the focus.
• Stability: Financially sound, not distressed.

The National Strategic Research Team (NSRT) provides intensive research to support decisions in strategic areas, including:

• Identification of high-probability sales leads, plus market, industry trend, and competitor intelligence.
• GIS mapping to visualize densities and locations of customers, competitors, potential markets, and trade areas.
• Analysis of search engine optimization, AI, web marketing, and social media to identify specific areas for improvement.
• Root-cause analysis in five key areas: core strategy, market dynamics, innovation, temperament, and qualified sales leads.

The program does not:​

• Do implementation or act as a long-term consultant.

• Analyze company financials.​

• Conduct primary research (no surveys, phone interviews, or focus groups).​

• Develop business plans.​

• Provide workforce solutions or loans.

1. Discovery Call (1.5 hours): The Team Leader interviews the CEO about the company’s history, customers, competitors, market, and growth challenges.
2. Research and delivery: After the CEO approves the focus areas, the specialists begin their research. As the work is completed they post results into a secure engagement software. Once the CEO has reviewed the research, there is a debrief with the researchers to discuss the work and its implications. 
3. Check-in calls: Partway through the engagement, there may be a mid-course correction. The CEO will review progress, refine questions, and decide where to go deeper.
4. Close Out Call: The Team Leader walks through the original issues, the questions asked, the answers and reports, and collects any feedback and survey responses.

Engagements typically last 5-6 weeks, from the first interview to the final survey. Most CEOs invest about 8–12 hours of their own time total.

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The economic developer's role is to find potential companies, vet their eligibility, explain the program and invite applications. They can listen in to calls, see deliverables and ask questions throughout (but not participate in our structured calls).

At the end of the engagement, the EDC picks up the company again and helps with additional, non-EG implementation activities.

The relationship is like having high-powered staff on loan for several weeks, focused on “What decisions are you getting ready to make, and what information do you need to make them?”

The team are not industry consultants with generic top-five recommendations; they are advanced researchers who supply data, analysis, and insight tailored to the CEO’s specific strategic issues.​

The national team is made up of private-sector specialists in areas like SEO, GIS, and market research, offering tools and expertise most early-stage growth firms cannot yet afford.

Past experience shows CEOs invest about 8–12 hours over a four- to six-week engagement.

• The program was created in Littleton, Colorado and refined over more than thirty-five years.​
• In 1987, after nearly 7,000 layoffs at the local Martin Marietta plant, the city council directed staff to “work with local businesses and create good jobs,” leading to the development of Economic Gardening.​
• Over the next two decades the model was tested, refined, and shared nationally as over 800 communities inquired about how it worked.​
• It has received national and international recognition, including being a finalist in Harvard’s Innovation in Government awards.

• Littleton doubled its job base from 15,000 to 30,000 over twenty years without recruiting a single company.​