Chris Gibbons - Economic Gardening

Learn how to grow successfully from a startup to second stage growth from an expert with 25+ years of experience! Chris Gibbons is co-creator (along with Littleton, CO, city manager Jim Woods) of “Economic Gardening,” an entrepreneurial approach to economic development.

Christian Gibbons is the Director of Business/Industry Affairs in Littleton, Colorado and is co-inventor (along with city manager Jim Woods) of “Economic Gardening,” an entrepreneurial approach to economic development. Mr. Gibbons has run this project for the City of Littleton for 25 years. From the period 1990 to 2011 the number of jobs in Littleton more than doubled from 15,000 to 30,000 and sales tax revenues more than tripled from $6 to $21 million. The City did not recruit one industry during this period, nor did it offer one cent in incentives or tax rebates.

Mr. Gibbons received a Master’s Degree in Urban and Regional Planning from the University of Oklahoma in 1973 and worked for the City of Oklahoma City and San Bernardino County, California before establishing his own consulting firm in 1977. From 1977 to 1987 he consulted
on a variety of community and economic development projects in Colorado, Wyoming and California. Mr. Gibbons has been married to his wife Diane for 43 years and they have two adult sons.