Economic Gardening
Economic gardening, an entrepreneurial-driven approach to economic development, is generating excitement within local governments worldwide. It is based on research showing that most jobs in local economies are generated by small, local businesses. Rather than concentrating efforts on recruiting large established businesses to a community, Economic Gardening (EG) fosters the growth of businesses already within the community by providing support to local entrepreneurs touting innovative products and services.

Today the concept is thriving: although program objectives and models vary from community to community, successful ones share many of the same core elements, including

• Bolstering community assets/infrastructure essential to commerce and to the quality of life
• Providing access to on-point market research and information
• Providing business counseling and facilitating
• Connecting businesses with local support, including industry trade groups, public sector supporters, and academic institutions

Access/Information is part of an Economic Gardening Jumpstart Team that helps local governments establish EG programs. The purpose of the team is to allow communities across the country to immediately implement EG projects while they are developing their local infrastructure. The Jumpstart Team includes research, Geographic Information Systems (GIS), and search optimization components. In this capacity, A/I conducts research for growing companies in a variety of areas, including:

• Competitive intelligence
• Industry and marketing trends
• Compilation of demographic data
• Identification of new markets and market channels

Local businesses benefit greatly by having access to the same information resources as larger companies as well as the expertise of professional researchers.