Chris Gibbons on Economic Gardening

Economic Gardening is increasingly gaining attention among economic developers. It is entering the main stream of consciousness as an accepted principle of economic development. Economic Gardening is rapidly approaching the tipping point.

Economic Gardening is an entrepreneurial approach to economic development. It focuses on helping companies achieve sales growth: drawing new money into communities and/or keeping money from leaking out to increase economic circulation within the community.

 The three tenets of gardening are:

1. Provide access to information and information resources needed by businesses to survive and thrive.
2. Create a human support infrastructure that embraces access to intellectual resources, talent, growth, and change.
3. Connect businesses, people, and organizations via formal and informal networks to achieve new levels of growth.

For many, Economic Gardening is misunderstood, little noticed, or just an off-road idea. Yet today, Economic Gardening is becoming an increasingly important alternative to the classic attract & retain strategies in economic development. In other words, a viable growth strategy for the rest of us!

We are excited to have Chris Gibbons to lead us through the ins-and-outs of economic gardening. Chris is the biological father and keeper of the EG movement torch. He is the convener of the tribe. Chris was there on day one. Chris and his team in Littleton hand-invented, crafted, and tested the pieces and parts that make up economic development gardening today.

Clearly, he is an overnight success… 20 years in the making!

What you will learn

• Strategies, Techniques, and Tips
• Core Elements of an Economic Gardening Strategy
• North american and Global Trends in Economic Gardening
• What's Working
• What's Not Working
• Launching an Economic Gardening Program

Details

• Monday, March 22nd
• 2:00 PM Eastern, 1:00 PM Central, 12:00 PM Mountain, 11:00 AM Pacific
• Webinar will run for 90 minutes.

Invest in your career. Invest in your community's success. Join us for a conversation with the father and torch bearer of global economic gardening.

Bring your questions. Bring your curiosity. Bring your team!

Featured Authority

Christian Gibbons
Director of Business/Industry Affairs

City of Littleton, CO

Christian Gibbons is co-inventor (along with city manager Jim Woods) and the face of “Economic Gardening,” an entrepreneurial approach to economic development. Mr. Gibbons has run the economic gardening project for the City of Littleton for 22 years. From the period 1990 to 2009 the number of jobs in Littleton doubled from 15,000 to over 30,000 and sales tax revenues more than tripled from $6 to $21 million. The City did not recruit one industry during this period, nor did it offer one cent in incentives or tax rebates.

Mr. Gibbons received a Master’s Degree in Urban and Regional Planning from the University of Oklahoma in 1973 and worked for the City of Oklahoma City and San Bernardino County, California before establishing his own consulting firm in 1977. From 1977 to 1987 he consulted on a variety of community and economic development projects in Colorado, Wyoming and California. Mr. Gibbons has been married to his wife Diane for 42 years and they have two adult sons.

Host and Moderator

Eric P. Canada

Chief Strategist, Blane, Canada Ltd.

Eric P. Canada of Blane, Canada Ltd. is a nationally recognized authority on economic development marketing and business retention.

Mr. Canada has a long-term commitment to professional development, training, and primary research as a way to "give back" to the profession he loves. The Professional Learning Lab is an extension of that commitment.

In his 1995 book, Economic Development: Marketing for Results!, Mr. Canada outlined the application of b2b (business-to-business)strategies in an economic development environment. In his work, he often interviews senior economic development professionals in search of best practices and innovation. He has conducted marketing program audits of 60 of the top economic development organizations in the US.

Mr. Canada created standards for business retention where none existed before. His competitive capacity analysis technique and benchmarks to replace the subjective SWOT analysis common in economic development. Now, the Synchronist Key Performance Indicators allow local, regional, and state EDOs to compare their findings to national benchmarks providing a clear picture of their competitive position. He created the Synchronist Business Information System® to manage existing business strategy. He also manages the largest BRE research collaborative in North America.

This webinar is produced by Blane, Canada Ltd. It is part of the Professional Learning Laboratory economic development educational series. The Lab is a joint venture of dedicated professional trainers committed to the provision of high-quality content, and expert instruction without commercial messages.

Blane, Canada Ltd.

1506 Cadet, Suite 100

Wheaton, IL 60189

630-462-9222

info@blanecanada.com

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