Over the past six years of supporting small business entrepreneurs with GIS , I have found that most entrepreneurs really have no clue about the power of GIS for small business success. No wonder! for years, GIS has been the secret weapon of big business. Although we can try to educate each small business owner,…
This past month I had the opportunity to participate in the 2012 National Economic Gardening (EG) Conference, held in Grand Rapids, MI, & hosted by the Pure Michigan organization. Meeting with other EG practitioners and sharing ideas is stimulating and thought-provoking. I always return with new ideas and charged-up to get back at helping stage…
The June 18th, 2012 issue of Crain’s Detroit Business, has an excellent article on one of the Michigan state Economic Gardening (EG) program’s success stories. The featured business is Online Tech Inc. Yan Ness, the CEO, discusses his experience with the Michigan EG program and the value that it provided to his strategic growth plans. The…
Here is a reprint of site location considerations from www.toolkit.com/small_business_guide. Some of these factors need to be assessed during an on-site visit, but a majority of them can only be discovered using geospatial information analysis. An important factor in selecting a location is that you keep a long-term perspective. Site selection can be a big…
Economic Gardening is a concept that works! Again, EG makes an impact in a community that needs jobs and economic growth. Check it out: Pueblo, Colorado
Hi everyone: I’m speaking at GITA’s 2010 Geospatial Infrastructure Solutions Conference in Phoenix, AZ, on 4/27/2010, from 3:15-4:00 p.m. at the Phoenix Convention Center in Room N226B. I hope you can make it to my presentation. I’ve pasted the abstract below, and here’s a link to the main conference page: http://www.gita.org/gis. You can navigate to…
Hi everyone: I’m speaking at GITA’s 2010 Geospatial Infrastructure Solutions Conference in Phoenix, AZ, on 4/27/2010, from 3:15-4:00 p.m. at the Phoenix Convention Center in Room N226B. I hope you can make it to my presentation. I’ve pasted the abstract below, and here’s a link to the main conference page: http://www.gita.org/gis. You can navigate to…
The New York Times posted an article discussing what states are doing to help small businesses and the economic recovery. The last paragraph of the article, titled “Helping Businesses Expand”, discusses the GrowFL program. GeoWize and the Economic Gardening Jumpstart Team have been supporting the GrowFL program. Over the next several months we will be providing business…
Read about the Littleton Economic Gardening program from the founder of Economic Gardening. This is a reprint of Chris’ article in the National League of Cities, January 11, 2001 issue: Economic Gardening has become a hot topic in economic development circles. The alternative approach, which focuses on nurturing second stage growth companies and growing an…
The best way to be successful with your business is by selecting a successful site: Learn how to select a winning site location!!! It used to be that the big guys (Target, Walmart, McDonald’s, Walgreens, etc.) were the only ones that could afford to use business demographics and GIS (Geospatial Information Systems) for finding successful sites…