Economic Gardening Helps Communities Grow Their Own Jobs

“Economic Gardening” is an innovative, entrepreneur-based development strategy.

Economic gardening is a philosophy that embraces strategies to grow existing businesses by supporting second-stage companies for a stronger economy through sustainable job growth. Communities are economic gardens that cultivate these companies and organizations and create supportive environments where they can thrive.

Often contrasts with “economic hunting” strategies that aim to recruit development opportunities from outside the community, economic gardening is designed to “grow-your-own” jobs through entrepreneurial activities within our community. Economic development plans typically include four key tactics – business recruitment, retention, expansion, and entrepreneurial development.

Economic gardening is an economic development model that embraces the fundamental idea that entrepreneurs drive economies. The model seeks to create jobs by supporting existing companies in a community. I

Economic gardening connects entrepreneurs to resources, encouraging the development of essential infrastructure and providing entrepreneurs with needed information. The State of Michigan economic gardening initiative provides local entrepreneurs with access to competitive intelligence on markets, customers, and competitors that is comparable to the resources customarily only available to large firms. Included in the market information category are database and data mining resources, and geographic information systems.