Economic Gardening for Business Retention and Expansion
What is Economic Gardening?
Economic Gardening is an entrepreneurial approach to economic development that focuses on growing local, second-stage companies that export innovation. As an alternative strategy to “economic hunting,” which recruits big businesses to relocate, Economic Gardening supports a local entrepreneurial ecosystem by providing strategic information, market research, and growth frameworks to help second-stage companies accelerate their growth rate.
Second-stage companies are those with 10-99 employees and $1-50 million in revenue. They have moved beyond the start-up and survival stage and are now dealing with issues of growth. They are the key drivers of local economic growth.
How Economic Gardening Works
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Use BRE visits and partner referrals to nominate second-stage firms.
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Present EG as an option; confirm second-stage criteria and invite a short application.
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A specialist team (database research, GIS, SEO, AI tools, listening posts) begins within days.
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Intensive 4–8 week window delivering timely, actionable market intelligence to the CEO.
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Local BRE staff help the company implement changes and connect to incentives, sites, and workforce programs.
Why Integrate Economic Gardening into Your Business Retention and Expansion Program
Deploy Sophisticated Corporate-Level Tools
These high-powered tools help companies identify new markets, improve business models, analyze industry trends, target high-probability sales calls, and increase sales.
Provide Affordable, High-Impact Assistance
Economic Gardening consistently produces high-quality jobs at a low per-job cost—far below other economic development strategies.
Accelerate Job Creation
Second-stage companies are the engine of job growth, generating 40% of jobs despite being only 15% of firms. Economic Gardening helps these critical companies accelerate their growth.
Create Good Community Relations
Economic Gardening addresses the question posed by local businesses: what is economic development doing for me? The program brings technical and moral support to companies that already have roots in the community.
Wealth & Resilience
Homegrown companies are rooted in the local economy. As they expand, they create a multiplier effect, supporting other local businesses. They also support local charities and contribute to the tax base.
Contribute to an Entrepreneurial Ecosystem
Many communities have decided that working with local entrepreneurs is the most consistent way to grow jobs and wealth. While community organization is essential to an entrepreneurial ecosystem, so are direct services to scaling companies.