Contact Us to Get Involved
To learn more, or to be a participant, simply contact the nearest Small Business Development Center (SBDC) and ask if your business qualifies.
Team Members
Utah's economic gardening team consists of several team members, trained and certified by the National Center for Economic Gardening as team leaders, market research specialists, geographic information systems specialists, and social media specialists. Utah's economic gardening program also has access to over 30 additional certified specialists who contract with the National Center for Economic Gardening, which is housed at the Edward Lowe Foundation.
Eligibility
Companies interested in participating in the program must meet certain minimum qualifications of "second-stage" companies. Specifically, in order to be considered for selection as a participant in the program, a business must meet the following criteria at the time of selection:
- Be a for-profit, privately held company headquartered and operating in Utah.
- Have between $500,000 and $50 million in annual revenue.
- Employ 6 to 99 full-time equivalent W-2 employees, including the owner.
- Demonstrated growth in either revenue or employees in two of the last five years.
- Provide or be prepared to provide products or services beyond the local service area to regional and/or international markets
Participation
If your company wishes to participate in the program, you will be required to complete a brief application. All information on the application (as well as that shared during the ensuing engagement) is kept strictly confidential. If selected you will receive several thousand dollars worth of professional assistance in the analysis of growth opportunities. However, thanks to the special funding for this program, it will cost your company only a fraction of that (about $500) to participate in the program. The program seeks only businesses that are genuinely committed to growing. This economic gardening engagement typically lasts about 3 to 6 weeks, during which time the owner of the business is asked to invest approximately 4 to 6 hours in the application process and a few key conversations with the strategic research team. Professional follow-up assistance with implementing the strategic growth information is available at no cost from the Utah SBDC office and may range from a few weeks to well over one year, as needed.