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Chris Gibbons on Economic Gardening
June 23rd, 2009 by Mike Knutson
Chris Gibbons took the time for a short interview on the subject of “economic gardening” last week at the conclusion of the 7th Annual Economic Gardening Conference. If you are like some of my friends who thought economic gardening was about growing vegetables in the garden, you’d better watch this short video.
OK, so economic gardening is a strategy for economic development that involves planting seeds for economic growth by helping entrepreneurs.
Some people hear that and probably say, “Oh, it’s about helping business owners write business plans and making sure they get low interest loans.” Well, that’s probably helpful, but people who dig into what Chris advocates understand it’s much more.
Although the definition varies by location, Chris’s version of economic gardening involves a fairly sophisticated process of market research analysis, competitive analysis, and marketing strategy development - information most businesses don’t have access to.
Why Economic Gardening?
As the Littleton website describes, economic gardening “was based on research by David Birch at MIT that indicated the great majority of all new jobs in any local economy were produced by the small, local businesses of the community.” That was true in 1987 when Chris developed his program, and it’s true today.
I talked to Chris and others at the conference about what it would take to create an economic gardening movement in South Dakota. By “movement” I’m talking about something more than a program, although that would be a great start.
If it’s going to succeed, economic gardening has got to be something people and organizations are passionate about. I can’t help but wonder if that isn’t part of the problem being described about this program in Florida.
At the end of the video Chris points us to Wyoming’s model because he believes a regional approach would work best in a rural state like South Dakota. Makes sense to me. Hopefully, others will help us build on that conversation.
Other Economic Gardening resources
- “Entrepreneurial Community of the Month: Littleton, Colorado” by the Center for Rural Entrepreneurship.
- Economic Gardening Resources on the Littleton City website
- “Economic Gardening: Next Generation Applications for a Balanced Portfolio Approach to Economic Growth” a report for U.S. Small Business Administration, Office of Advocacy
Tags: 2009 EG Conference, business plans, Chris Gibbons, Economic Gardening, entreprenuership, marketing
Posted in Economic Development, Rural | Comments (
2 )
June 24th, 2009 at 7:42 am
Hi Mike,
Thanks for including this video on your blog. I worked with Chris and his shop for about 41/2 years. You might be interested in some resources on my website, including a free white paper, “10 Steps for Implementing an Economic Gardening Program.” I have spoken in many places around the country–many of them rural–on economic gardening and supporting local entrepreneurs. There is a great deal of interest in this approach in many diverse places. Thanks for spreading the word!
Christine
June 24th, 2009 at 7:49 am
I’ve been to Christine’s site before and she’s got some good stuff. We met at the conference, and I’d hoped to interview her as well. Unfortunately, I’m still a novice at the camera and things took a lot longer than expected.
Check out Christine’s site — http://www.growinglocaleconomies.com/