A strategy for growing new jobs

In my last column, I promised to present alternatives to the traditional economic development practice of recruiting outside business.

Since it is July, what better place to start than with "economic gardening?"

By Linda Stanley

[email protected]

http://www.coloradoan.com/news/stories/20040712/business/828829.html

(Many thanks to John Shepard of Fort Collings, CO for passing this along. To learn more about Economic Gardening, please contact Chris Gibbons at [email protected] – Russ)

From this perspective
Linda Stanley has a Ph.D. in economics and is a research scientist at Colorado State University. Her column will offer a slow-growth perspective on issues affecting the local business community.

The story of economic gardening begins in Leadville in 1982.

A molybdenum mine had just closed, leaving many in Leadville unemployed. The community was pushing to recruit outside industry to lower an unemployment rate approaching 40 percent.

Consultant Chris Gibbons was charged with the task of attracting firms to an area that, though beautiful, had a harsh climate and limited business appeal.

At that same time, two Leadville miners came to Gibbons with an invention — a resin mining bolt — that was clearly useful and marketable.

This meeting sparked the ideas that led to the development of economic gardening.

Gibbons saw that in Leadville, individuals had unique skills and knowledge that could be highly marketable. He also realized that a focus on growing more local companies using these unique skills and knowledge was likely to be more productive than attempting to recruit outside companies. After all, the people who would most like to live in Leadville were already there.

Gibbons moved on to become the economic development director for Littleton where he and others further developed the economic gardening approach using research findings and trial and error. Economic gardening is now in use by many communities and states.

So what is it?

Economic gardening is a method of growing a vital economy by cultivating and creating local jobs through entrepreneurial activity within a community. It is based on the notion that entrepreneurs drive economies, and that healthy economies will have a healthy base of entrepreneurs. Thus, providing a nurturing environment for entrepreneurs will lead to a healthy economy.

A successful program provides:

# Critical information (e.g., competitive intelligence, industry trends, legislative research).

# Quality of life (e.g., open space, recreation, cultural experiences) and intellectual infrastructure (training, curriculum) besides basic infrastructure.

# Connections to a variety of organizations (e.g. trade associations, academic institutions and similar companies).

Economic gardening is not headline grabbing. It works because it is based on sound economics and experience.

Fort Collins is an ideal place to apply economic gardening principles.

Let’s choose the garden path where we can grow a vital economy and nurture our sense of community.

Linda Stanley has a Ph.D. in economics and is a research scientist at Colorado State University. Reach her via e-mail at [email protected].