Creating Entrepreneurship-led Growth and Economic Development Programs
Entrepreneurship-led Growth is at the root of what local economic development is about. This page brings together key resources and next steps for communities, elected officials, CEOs, and program staff exploring Entrepreneurship‑led Economic Development through Economic Gardening. Whether you are designing a new program or evaluating one, you will find quick primers, downloads, and videos tailored to your role.
Why Economic Gardening - THE ECONOMIC GARDENING PRIMER
Economic Gardening is a powerful complement to traditional programs to help and retain locally-based businesses. By focusing on nurturing the growth of those existing businesses, providing them with strategic resources, and fostering innovation, Economic Gardening helps create a robust and resilient local entreprenurship-led economy. Implementing the EG approach with other local programming, communties can support sustainable economic growth, job creation, and an enhanced quality of life.
CREATE ENTREPRENEURSHIP-LED ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT
Identify Target Companies
Focus on Stage 2 companies within your community that have growth potential. These businesses should already have proven market and management capabilities but need support to scale further. EG can provide a working list of companies in your city, region, or state to support the team.
Leverage Data and Technology
Utilize advanced data analytics, GIS mapping, and market research to provide businesses with insights into new markets, customer segments, and competitive landscapes. This strategic information is crucial for informed decision-making and identifying growth opportunities.
Foster Innovation
Encourage companies to innovate by providing them with the tools and frameworks to develop new products and services. Innovation leads to higher profit margins and creates a competitive edge in the market, which is essential for long-term growth and sustainability.
Monitor and Support
Continuously monitor the progress of businesses in your BRE program and offer ongoing support. This can include mentoring, access to networks, and facilitating connections with potential partners and investors.
Easy to Ramp Up with NCEG
The NCEG maintains a team of professionals with deep expertise in multiple areas of business research. Market Researchers, Geospatial Information, Digital Marketers, and AI-informed Researchers are on the National Strategic Resources Team (NSRT) already. EDC's contract with the NCEG and the NSRT is on the job, working with your local businesses. Ask about how you can run a set of companies through the program to see the impact. Data suggests you will be pleasantly surprised.
Videos
Data shows that Stage 2 companies — those with 10-99 employees and $1-50 million in revenue — are significant job creators and persistent drivers of economic stability. Traditional economic development strategies that focus on attracting new businesses as Economic Gardening emphasizes nurturing the growth of existing businesses ("gardening") by providing them with strategic information and resources tailored to their unique needs.
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Marketing Comparison - Traditional vs EG
Traditional vs. EG Marketing contrasts old-school, cold-call marketing with Economic Gardening’s data-driven focus 
on finding in‑market buyers triggered by change, showing how EG consistently produces higher‑probability sales. Download our whitepaper now to see how this approach empowers businesses with entrepreneurship-led programs that get results.
Intercept Marketing
Economic Gardening improves job and income growth by systematically finding “high probability” sales opportunities, using a four-step buying model, triggered by change. 
This document discusses how a company can show up where motivated buyers are already investigating and evaluating options, rather than wasting effort creating motivation in stable, low-probability situations.
Integrating EGs Impact
Move to entreprenurship-led programs to boost growth by supporting local second-stage firms with sophisticated market research and growth frameworks. Faster job creation, stronger community wealth, low per‑job costs, and better relationships with local businesses with a specialist team and processes to deliver short, intensive, high‑impact engagements. Review how EG's entrepreneurship-led processes support growth and expansion. As innovation shifts, businesses find a pivot to explore tomorrow’s markets.
Commodity Traps
Entrepreneurship-led efforts help communities avoid a “commodity trap”. Find the path out by shifting the conversation to exporting innovation, 
nurturing change‑oriented entrepreneurs, and supporting Stage 2 firms. The entrepreneur-led ecosystem leverages tools so that support rural businesses ability to sell high‑margin innovations into external markets.
Why EG Works
Economic Gardening works because it aligns with how economies actually behave at three levels—national, community, and company—then equips local Stage 2 firms to export innovation into volatile markets where sales growth and quality jobs are created. The whitepaper reviews how tracking public signals of change and reaching them through outbound, inbound, and “watering hole” channels, turn entrepreneurship-led efforts into a repeatable, low‑cost system rather than a recruitment gamble. https://economicgardening.org/wp-content/uploads/2022/01/Why-EG-Works.pdf