Entrepreneurship Program Sponsors Seminar on 'Economic Gardening'

The University of Pittsburgh at Bradford’s entrepreneurship program is presenting a day-long seminar on “Economic Gardening,” a method of growing new and existing businesses, May 13.

The seminar will take place from 8:30 a.m. to 3:30 p.m. in Room 162 Swarts Hall. The $30 cost includes lunch. There is no cost for elected officials to attend.

The speaker will be Chris Gibbons, who has been in charge of business development for the city of Littleton, Colo., for more than 20 years. In that time, the number of jobs in Littleton doubled, and sales tax revenue tripled without recruiting new industries or offering incentives or tax rebates.

Gibbons holds a master’s degree in urban and regional planning from the University of Oklahoma. He worked for the City of Oklahoma City and San Bernadino County, Calif., before establishing his own consulting firm in 1977. For the next 10 years, he consulted on a variety of community and economic development projects in Colorado, Wyoming and California.

“Economic Gardening is one of the most sensible economic development ideas that I have come across,” said Laura Megill, director of Pitt-Bradford’s entrepreneurship program. “It gives a path to supporting economic growth but with a humility that recognizes that jobs are created by growing businesses, not governments.”

For more information or to register, contact Jody Randolph at 814-362-5056 or jar1@pitt.edu or visit www.pittPowerofE.com.