Business Growth Services for Second-Stage Companies

For many years, community leaders’ primary approach to growing their local economy has been through industrial attraction, looking for a large employer that wanted to move to their community. Some cities, towns, counties and regions have started to realize that there are other strategies to grow their economy—helping their existing businesses grow. In some communities, this approach has become known as Economic Gardening, an entrepreneurial approach to economic development. It assumes that an economy can be grown from the inside when local companies grow. To help companies grow, the community provides sophisticated information and services that improve the natural entrepreneurial process. Economic Gardening was created in Littleton, Colorado, in 1987 where over the next two decades Littleton more than doubled jobs (a time when its population only increased by 23 percent) and tripled sales tax revenue.

The Indiana Purdue Economic Gardening Program

Eligibility

A group of economic development partners in Indiana has launched the Indiana Purdue Economic Gardening program to learn from and adapt the Littleton, Colorado, program. Currently, the business growth services are only available to “second-stage” companies. Research and experience have demonstrated that these companies often have the potential for growth but can face some significant barriers, some of which programs like Economic Gardening can help address. These second-stage companies are defined as follows:

1. Being a for-profit, privately held business;
2. Employing at least 10 but not more than 99 people;
3. Maintaining its principal place of business in Indiana for at least the previous two years; and
4. Generating at least $750,000 but not more than $50 million in annual revenue.

Services

Companies selected to participate in the Economic Gardening program receive more than 35 hours of strategic research and technical assistance by skilled professionals from Purdue University and partnering organizations in the following areas:

1. Market Research
   • Assess market trends
   • Identify potential competitors
   • Discover unknown resources
2. Geospatial Analysis
   • Map areas for targeted marketing
   • Visual competitors
   • Identify customers
   • Business-to-Business
3. SEO and Social Media
   • Raise visibility in search engine results
   • Increase web traffic
   • Track online communications

Process

The Economic Gardening process is divided into five phases. Companies work closely with an assigned team leader from Purdue who guides the company through the process of identifying strategic data to address the growing company’s needs.

• Launch: Discovery Call
Get acquainted with your assigned Economic Gardening information about the company’s history and goals.

• Strategize: Team Call
Meet with the professional staff who will conduct the market research, SEO analysis, and GIS analysis and collaborate on identifying a strategy that will meet your company’s unique needs.

• Learn: Check in Call
Discuss with the team leader what research has provided the most insights so far and decide on final steps for strategic research.

• Implement: Close Out Call
Identify a plan for applying the research across your company to sustain growth.

• Measure: Collect Data
Touch base about your company’s progress after three, six and nine months. Continue the dialogue during an annual review for the first three years.

Your involvement with the team typically lasts eight to 10 weeks. The Purdue Economic Gardening Team will spend about 36 hours of research time on your business issues. In total, you can expect to spend approximately 10 hours of your time collaborating with the team.

Expenses

The Economic Gardening package can be provided at a flat fee of $4,400. This fee for services is generally found to be lower than a traditional consulting firm would be able to provide. It is encouraged that your company seek financial support from your local economic development organization.

Partnerships

The Economic Gardening team partners with Indiana’s local or regional economic development organizations (LEDOs and REDOs), chambers of commerce and other groups to deliver these services. Those interested in more information about making this valuable program available to their second-stage companies can connect with the program through the Purdue Center for Regional Development staff who can provide technical assistance and coaching in setting up the program and are also available to talk with LEDO/REDO boards, industry groups or anyone else in the local or regional community who could benefit from hearing about this exciting program for growing our Indiana economy.

To apply for the Economic Gardening program or learn about Purdue Extension’s role in the Economic Gardening program, contact: