Kansas Economic Gardening Network
The Kansas Economic Gardening Network is a pilot program designed to provide significant sophisticated technical assistance to identified second-stage companies that have the intent and capacity to grow their business. The Kansas pilot program will provide economic gardening assistance at no charge to 35-40 Kansas businesses in rural communities statewide. These selected businesses will interact with an experienced national economic gardening team who will deliver economic gardening services tailored to each business's particular situation.
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Kansas Economic Gardening Pilot Program Status
The results: The Kansas economic gardening pilot facilitated by
NetWork Kansas was launched in Dodge City in November of 2011. Since
that time, more than twenty-five (25) rural businesses have received
more than seven hundred and fifty (750) hours of specific consulting
expertise from the national research team. The pilot concluded on
January 31, 2012 and is currently under evaluation.
Future eligibility?
During the evaluation phase, there may be
additional opportunities for businesses to receive
economic gardening
assistance. Eligible businesses are encouraged to apply and will be
added to an “Opportunity List.”
Eligible businesses must be referred by an economic gardening (EG)
trained NetWork Kansas partner. For an EG trained partner in your
area, please call us at 877.521.8600. Unsolicited inquiries will be
routed directly to a local EG trained partner for follow-up. Contact
NetWork Kansas at 877.521.8600 to begin the application process and be
referred to an EG trained NetWork Kansas partner.
If you’re interested in growing your business but don’t meet the
eligibility requirements to participate in The Kansas Economic
Gardening Network pilot program, contact us to determine what
resources are available to you.
About Economic Gardening
Economic gardening embraces strategies to grow existing second-stage
businesses. It is an innovative, entrepreneur-centered, economic
growth strategy focused on providing tools to grow existing businesses
that possess the characteristics of second-stage businesses. The video
at the right shows Steve Radley, Director of NetWork Kansas,
interviewing Mark Lange of the Edward Lowe Foundation about economic
gardening.
Eligibility Criteria
To be considered for selection as a participant in The Kansas Economic
Gardening NetWork Pilot Program, a business must meet the following
criteria at the time of selection:
1 Be a for-profit, privately-held company headquartered and operating
in a rural community in Kansas.**
2 Have between $600,000 and $50,000,000 in annual revenue.
3 Employ at least 5 but not more than 100 employees.
4 Have maintained its principal place of business in Kansas for at
least the two previous years.
5 Demonstrate growth in employment and/or revenue in two of past five years.
6 Provide product(s) and/or services beyond current service area to
regional and/or international markets (retail and restaurants do not
qualify).
7 Must be referred by a NetWork Kansas partner.
*All businesses that meet criteria are eligible,
**Rural community is defined as any community whose population does
not exceed 50,000 residents.
What if I’m not eligible? If you’re interested in growing your
business but don’t meet the eligibility requirements to participate in
The Kansas Economic Gardening Network program, contact us to determine
what resources are available to you.
Characteristics of Second-stage Businesses
Second-stage companies are those that have grown past the startup stage but have not grown to maturity. They have enough employees to exceed the comfortable control span of one owner/CEO and benefit from adding professional managers, but they do not yet have a full-scale professional management team.
A business typically begins to enter its second stage when it approaches $1 million in total receipts. The transition process can continue until it hits $100 million in receipts, although for most companies $50 million represents the upper limit of second-stage. By $100 million, a firm will require professional management in order to continue to thrive and grow and will enter its third stage of development. Employee numbers and revenue ranges vary by industry, but the population of firms with 10 to 100 employees and/or $750,000 to $50 million in receipts includes the vast majority of second-stage companies.
Examples of Technical Assistance Provided by the Program
- Identifying qualified sales leads by sorting contents of extensive databases.
- Mapping geographic areas to facilitate targeted marketing efforts.
- Reviewing core strategies related to commodity and/or niche markets.
- Analyzing employee temperament to build strong management teams and recruit new hires.
- Examining social media utilization to connect with customers.
- Search engine optimization to place website in front of more customers.
The National Economic Gardening Team
The national economic gardening team is comprised of individuals and organizations that provide a suite of high-end, high-speed technical assistance tools to companies that have grown beyond the startup phase and need access to information and decision making tools such as:
Database Research
Search Engine Optimization (SEO)
Geographic Information Systems (GIS)
Social Media Network Mapping
Strategy Analysis
Management Team Temperament
Capital Referrals
Labor Referrals
Based on each business's application, members of the national team will be selected to participate in the CEO Interview
National Economic Gardening Team Members:
What Next? I’m ready to apply! Eligible businesses must be referred by an economic gardening (EG) trained NetWork Kansas partner. For an EG trained partner in your area, please call us at 877.521.8600. Unsolicited inquiries will be routed directly to a local EG trained partner for followup. Contact NetWork Kansas at 877.521.8600 to begin the application process and be referred to an EG trained NetWork Kansas partner.
What if I’m not eligible? If you’re interested in growing your business but don’t meet the eligibility requirements to participate in The Kansas Economic Gardening Network pilot program, contact us to determine what resources are available to you.
More Information about Applying, Including a Link to the Application: http://networkkansas.com/kansas-economic-gardening-network/applying-for-economic-gardening-assistance After Applying Once a business applies to The Kansas Economic Gardening NetWork Pilot Program, the following steps occur:
