About the Founder

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

Serving as NCEG’s visionary leader, Chris has been recognized by the International Economic Development Council, Harvard University, the SBA, NPR, and media outlets in stories worldwide.

He developed and implemented the original entrepreneurship-led economic development strategy in Littleton, Colorado, where he served as Director of Business/Industry Affairs during 1987, when he needed an approach for fostering local business growth and job creation. Since then Economic Gardening is a viable strategic program in the economic development portfolio.

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 five decades of experience in city planning, community development, and business strategy, he has published extensively on Economic Gardening and received coverage by 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 internationally regarded as an expert in entrepreneurship and local economic strategy. Today, through the NCEG, he continues to champion  entrepreneurship-led economic development strategies that empower communities to cultivate their own economic prosperity.

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