Economic Gardening coming to South Dakota

May 4th, 2009 by

South Dakota and the Upper Midwest have a great opportunity to take a step forward in how we help grow entrepreneurs.  On June 17-19th, the 2009 Economic Gardening Conference will be held at historic Fort Sisseton.  It is a must attend event for anyone who believes in the importance of entrepreneurial development.

For those who haven’t heard of the term before, economic gardening is a process of nurturing and growing entrepreneurs.  The process begins with information.  Typically, economic gardening professionals help entrepreneurs find information on markets, customers, and competitors that individuals typically don’t have access to.  Once in hand, economic gardening professionals help the entrepreneurs use the information to advance their business and reach their markets.  (This is just a short definition.  There’s more that I’m leaving out.)

The process works, as evidenced by Littleton, CO’s success. I’ve followed the process from afar, wondering how small rural communities (i.e. – those under 5000 people) can implement the strategy.  (I’ll share more thoughts on this later.

The conference will be held at historic Fort Sisseton, and I’d highly recommend it to anyone who wants to understand how communities in States across the country support entrepreneurs.   I anticipate a wide variety of attendees, ranging from economic gardening professionals to enthusiasts and citizens who just want to learn more. 

I’ll be at the conference, and I’ve set a goal for networking with attendees and figuring out what South Dakota should be doing to advance this cause.  I hope to meet you there.  

Be sure to check out the conference registration site here.

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