Economic Gardening

Program Description

The City is engaged in several strategic, capacity building efforts to invest in the effectiveness and future sustainability of local companies. Second-stage growth companies are the backbone of Sacramento’s economy and the definition of economic growth and prosperity. These types of companies make a great investment, and are defined as having a proven product, proven market, proven management skills, and room to grow, typically ranging from 5-99 employees, and $1M - $50M in revenue. Research shows that investing in these productive companies is an effective way to grow the economy and create new jobs. Business participants must also generate approximately 25% or more of revenue from the export or sale of goods and services to markets outside the county of Sacramento

Focusing our efforts on these companies means strengthening the economy of the region and supporting the entrepreneurs who live among us. The City partners with the National Center for Economic Gardening (NCEG), a national organization that supports entrepreneurship on this program. For more information about the National Center for Economic Gardening, visit their website.

How is this unique to Sacramento?

This program is offered to a select group of companies during one-year cohorts. Companies receive 40 hours of services from the NCEG's team of specialists. The specialist team consists of seasoned researchers that leverage sophisticated corporate databases, GIS systems, SEO and Web marketing tools that provide the CEO with information, data and conclusions about key issues for each individual company.

Sacramento is redefining the traditional Economic Gardening approach by adding a 1:1 grant program to implement the recommendations companies receive following the 40 hours of research with the NCEG's specialists. Participating companies are eligible to receive up to $50,000 in match grant funding.

Program deliverables

This program utilizes state of the art corporate tools in - Commercial Database Searching, deep web, GIS, Search Engine Optimization, Listening post (consumer chatter, signals of change), Network mapping (websites, LinkedIn, Twitter), web marketing and other social media. The NCEG's team of specialists will help companies achieve their stated business goals by -

• Identifying qualified leads by sorting contents of extensive databases
• Mapping geographic areas using GIS software to facilitate targeted marketing efforts
• Reviewing core strategies related to commodity and/or niche markets
• Examining social media utilization to connect with customers
• Placing the company website in front of more customers using search engine optimization
• Analyzing employee temperament to build strong management teams