Economic Gardening^®

Advantage Valley has launched a program called Economic Gardening^®designed to provide sophisticated technical assistance to local companies poised for growth.

We are offering this program because nationally, more than 80% of new jobs are created by existing local businesses. Our goal is to identify and offer 45 local businesses a deliberative, research-based exercise proven to help them expand their market share, grow their business, and hire new employees.

Advantage Valley is seeking growth-oriented companies in Boone, Cabell, Clay, Kanawha, Putnam, Lincoln, Mason, Jackson or Wayne Counties that sell to markets outside the region, have 6-100 employees, and have experienced growth 2 out of the past 5 years. Advantage Valley is offering this program for free to select companies through a partnership with the National Center for Economic Gardening (NCEG), an organization that has patented this successful approach to economic development over 20 years.

Contact your local Economic Development Authority below to see if your company can qualify for the program.

Program Details

Companies will receive 36 hours of services from the NCEG’s team of specialists. This team consists of seasoned researchers that leverage sophisticated corporate databases, GIS systems, SEO and Web marketing tools that provide the CEO with information, data and conclusions about key issues for each individual company.

Program Deliverables

This program utilizes state of the art corporate tools in – Commercial Database Searching, Deep Web, GIS, Search Engine Optimization, Listening Post (consumer chatter, signals of change), Network Mapping (websites, LinkedIn, Twitter), Web Marketing and other social media. The NCEG’s team of specialists will help companies achieve their business goals by

Identifying qualified leads by sorting contents of extensive databases
Mapping geographic areas using GIS software to facilitate targeted marketing efforts
Reviewing core strategies related to commodity and/or niche markets
Examining social media utilization to connect with customers
Placing the company website in front of more customers using search engine optimization
Analyzing employee temperament to build a strong management team

Does Your Company Qualify?

To apply for this program. Your business must meet the following eligibility criteria:

Be a for-profit, privately held company headquartered and operating in Advantage Valley, West Virginia (Boone, Cabell, Clay, Kanawha, Putnam, Lincoln, Jackson, Mason or Wayne Counties)
Have between $650,000 and $50 million in annual revenue (pre-COVID-19 or in 2020)
Employ between 6 and 100 employees
Demonstrate growth in employment and/or revenue for 2 of the past 5 years
Sell or export to markets outside of Advantage Valley

What to Expect

Participation of CEO, devoting 8-12 hours over a four to six-week period, from beginning to end
Access to a free temporary team assigned to your company to research business information that can help your leadership team make strategic decisions to grow the company
Four phone calls throughout the course of the program to determine what decisions you are getting ready to make and what information you need to make those decisions
A finished product of research results and data about markets, competitors, industry trends and qualified sales leads