Center for Economic Vitality

Economic Gardening

Focuses on growing communities through existing businesses

Economic Gardening is an economic development strategy that was first coined in Colorado in the mid-1980s. In this approach, secondary market research is used to retain and expand existing businesses, as opposed to spending resources to attract new businesses to a community. As a result, businesses:

• Stabilize and grow

• Create new jobs

• Generate new investments in our communities

To help businesses thrive and grow our research services can assist businesses through:

• Expansion planning

• Competitive analysis

• Identifying possible customers

• Site evaluations

• Feasibility analysis for start-ups and acquisitions

• Data for loan justification

• Locating capital

• Human resource allocation

• Marketing plans and strategy

• Online presence management and strategy

• Branding and rebranding

To learn more about our Economic Gardening program contact Tom Dorr.