Economic Gardening

Way back in 1987, the City of Littleton, Colorado pioneered an entrepreneurial alternative to the traditional economic development practice of recruiting industries. This demonstration program, developed in conjunction with the Center for the New West, was called "economic gardening."

The belief was that "economic gardening" was a better approach for Littleton (and perhaps many other communities) than "economic hunting." By this, they meant that they intended to grow their own jobs through entrepreneurial activity instead of recruiting them. The idea was based on research by David Birch at MIT that indicated the great majority of all new jobs in any local economy were produced by the small, local businesses of the community. The recruiting coups drew major newspaper headlines but they were a minor part (often less than five percent) of job creation in most local economies.

Here is their story.