Louisiana Economic Gardening Program

'Economic Gardening' Gets Growing in LA with Local Firms

business report-december 13, 2011

A pair of Livingston Parish businesses have been chosen to take part in a new statewide pilot program aimed at growing existing Louisiana companies.

Labarre Associates and Teknarus, both of Denham Springs, are among just 32 companies statewide chosen to participate in the Louisiana Economic Gardening Initiative, a new effort designed by Louisiana Economic Development to connect home-grown small businesses with national experts to provide the former with intensive market research, growth strategies and other resources they need to expand and succeed.

"Once this initiative proves successful, which we know it will [do], our goal is for many more of our companies to benefit from what economic gardening has to offer," says Randy Rogers, president of the LED Council, which recommended the firms for the pilot program.

Economic gardening is an alternative to traditional economic development practices and embraces the fundamental idea that entrepreneurs drive economies. The concept, pioneered in 1987 in Littleton, Colo., when the state was in a recession, seeks to create jobs by supporting existing companies in a community.

The program was based on research by MIT's David Birch, who suggested that most new jobs in any local economy were produced by the community's small, local businesses. In Littleton, city leaders observed that only 3% to 5% of all companies were "high growth," but determined that those "gazelles" were creating the great majority of new jobs.

Established in 1984, Labarre Associates is a diversified organization offering facilities, architecture, construction and real estate services for everything from site acquisition and design to construction and facility management. The company is headquartered in Denham Springs, has a branch office in Tallahassee, Fla., and services the entire Gulf Coast region.

Teknarus is a computer technology firm founded in 2000 that expanded nearly two years ago into larger quarters on South Range Avenue in Denham Springs. The firm provides tech support, custom software and programming, website and other graphic design, and technology consulting.

Through accelerated technical assistance and research, an experienced national economic gardening team will provide Labarre Associates and Teknarus customized services tailored to their business needs.
Services provided through the Economic Gardening Initiative include:

• A review of the company's core strategies, including competitive threats and opportunities, business strategy, niche markets, and management and employee temperament;
• Market research and competitive intelligence, including qualified sales leads;
• A digital mapping of the company's geographic areas to assist in targeted marketing efforts and analyzing the competitive environment;
• Search engine optimization to increase the company's visibility and credibility within the market;
• An Internet and social media strategy to assist the company in best use of technology to connect with customers;
• Referrals to connect the company with top business leaders.
• To be eligible for the new initiative, companies must have maintained their principal place of business in Louisiana for at least the past two years and have annual revenue ranging between $600,000 and $50 million. Employment must be between five and 100, and there must be demonstrated growth in annual revenue and/or jobs in two of the last five years. They must deliver products or services to customers outside the company's local market area, and be in one of Louisiana's target or emerging industries.

State’s ‘gardening’ to grow businesses

the advocate-december 14, 2011

Four Baton Rouge-area companies and two in Lafayette will take part in a new Louisiana Economic Development department pilot program aimed at turning existing small businesses into much-larger ones.

The firms e_SEmD among 32 selected in the state for the Louisiana Economic Gardening Initiative e_SEmD include Turn Key Help, a Baton Rouge information technology firm, and in Denham Springs: real estate services firm Labarre Associates; lubricant and fuels firm Lard Oil Co.; and software and information technology services firm Teknarus. The Lafayette firms are Apex Innovations, an educational services company, and Noble Plastics, an injection molding manufacturer.

“It’s kind of an exciting segment. We’re looking at small businesses that have already had some success and have the potential to scale up to a much larger size,” LED Secretary Stephen Moret said.

These are the types of companies that will generate most of their future growth from sales outside of Louisiana, Moret said. Those companies make up a very small portion of the state’s small businesses

The pilot program connects home-grown small businesses with national experts in market research, growth strategies and other resources normally available only to large companies. Moret said it takes about three weeks for each company to complete the process, which will cost the state around $4,000 per participant.

By summer, LED hopes to begin evaluating participants’ progress, he said.

“We’re going to evaluate how this goes, and if we get the kind of results we’re hoping to see, we’re going to work to find a more permanent funding source,” Moret said.

Devin Zito, owner of Teknarus, said the company hasn’t been able to dedicate the resources needed to really look at the market and new approaches to growth.

“What I’m envisioning … is that these guys are kind of spearheading a front that we weren’t able to do and that would have taken us some time to do ourselves,” Zito said.

That work includes market research, avenues of expansion for products and services, and even growth outside the state, Zito said.

Teknarus has nine full-time workers and two part-time. About 35 percent of Teknarus’s business now comes from out-of-state clients.

Labarre Associates provides facilities management and maintenance, as well as architecture, construction and real estate development services. The company has 34 employees in its locations in Denham Springs and Tallahasee, Fla.

Jay Labarre, president of Labarre Associates, said the economic gardening team’s experts, who come from across the country, developed some very sophisticated techniques for identifying potential clients, market research and using social media to speed growth.

Labarre’s firm has had several conference calls with the consultants to share information and goals, he said, and Labarre expects the proposed plan will be ready by the end of the year.

He is hoping the consultants will help Labarre Associates double its business in Florida and diversify its clients there.

“Given the demographics that are in Florida right now, we feel like when things turn (around), Florida’s going to be a great place to be,” Labarre said.

The question is when that economic recovery will take place, he said.

Randy Rogers, president of the Livingston Economic Development Council, said many more local firms will benefit from the economic gardening pilot, which he said he believes will succeed.

Economic gardening is based on the fundamental idea that entrepreneurs drive economies. The concept began in Littleton, Colo., in 1987. In Littleton, city leaders observed that only 3 percent to 5 percent of all companies were “high growth,” but determined that those firms created the great majority of new jobs.

The services provided through the Economic Gardening Initiative include:

• A review of the company’s core strategies, including competitive threats and opportunities, business strategy, niche markets, and management and employee temperament.
• Market research and competitive intelligence, including qualified sales leads.
• A digital mapping of their geographic areas to assist in targeted marketing efforts and analyzing the competitive environment.
• Search Engine Optimization to increase the company’s visibility and credibility within the market.
• An Internet and social media strategy to assist the company in the best use of technology to connect with customers.
• Referrals to connect them with top business leaders.

To be eligible for the program, a firm must have annual revenue between $600,000 and $50 million; at least five but no more than 100 employees; added workers or revenue in two of the past five years; and its principal place of business must have been Louisiana for the last two years.

Local firms part of "economic gardening" pilot

Livingston Business & Real Estate Journal

Two Livingston Parish businesses participate in a new statewide pilot program aimed at helping Louisiana businesses. Labarre Associates and Teknarus, both of Denham Springs, are among just 32 companies statewide chosen to participate in the Louisiana Economic Gardening Initiative.This does not involve “gardening” in the usual sense; it is a new Louisiana Economic Development effort designed to help grow existing Louisiana companies. The program connects “home-grown” small  businesses with national experts to provide them with intensive market research, growth strategies and other resources they need to expand and succeed. 

To be eligible, companies must have maintained their principal place of business in Louisiana for at least the last two years and have annual revenue ranging between $600,000 and $50 million. They must employ at least five but not more than 100  employees, and demonstrate growth in annual revenue and/or jobs in two of the last five years. They must deliver products or services to customers outside the company’s local market area, and be in one of Louisiana’s target or emerging industries.

“Livingston Parish is a thriving community of entrepreneurs, and we’re thrilled that two of our extremely successful home-grown firms, Labarre Associates and Teknarus, have been chosen to participate in this program,” says Randy Rogers, president of the Livingston Economic Development Council, which recommended the firms for the pilot program. “Once this initiative proves successful, which we know it will, our goal is for many more of our companies to benefit from what economic gardening has to offer.”

Economic gardening is an alternative to traditional economic development practices; it embraces the fundamental idea that entrepreneurs drive economies. The concept, pioneered in 1987 in Littleton, Colorado, when the state was in a recession, seeks to create jobs by supporting existing companies in a community.

The program was based on research by MIT’s David Birch, who suggested that most new jobs in any local economy were produced by the community’s small, local businesses. In Littleton, city leaders observed that only 3% to 5% of all companies were "high growth," but determined that those "gazelles" were creating the great majority of new jobs.

Economic gardening connects entrepreneurs to resources, encouraging the development of essential infrastructure and providing entrepreneurs with needed information, such as access to competitive intelligence on markets, customers, and competitors that is comparable to the resources customarily only available to large firms. Communities across the country have adopted similar economic gardening strategies, and Louisiana Economic Development launched a pilot program this year.

Established in 1984, Labarre Associates is a diversified organization that offers facilities, architecture, construction, and real estate services. The company provides clients with practical, high-quality and cost-effective services from site acquisition to design to construction to facility management. Although the company is headquartered in Denham Springs, it now has a branch office in Tallahassee, Fla., and services the entire Gulf Region.

President Jay Labarre says the company was honored to be chosen, given the rigorous selection requirements. He says the consultants in the program have given valuable recommendations for Labarre Associates’ recent expansion into Florida.

“The ability to work with experts on a nationwide basis was very interesting to us in that it gives us a new perspective from what we’re accustomed to,” Labarre says. “They’re providing us with extraordinary expertise so we can find out how we can be more successful in this regional expansion.”

Teknarus is a computer technology firm founded in 2000 that expanded nearly two years ago into larger quarters on South Range Avenue in Denham Springs. The firm provides tech support, custom software and programming, website and other graphic design and technology consulting.

Owner Devin Zito says the opportunity to participate in the Economic Gardening Initiative “is a fantastic thing.” The company wants to expand its business outside of Louisiana, and the program is assisting Teknarus in identifying the best strategy for doing so.

“The Economic Gardening Initiative seems like it’s going to help us focus on some areas—marketing, research—the kinds of things a company like us needs to grow in but might not have the dollars or the time to spend doing the research in those areas for ourselves,” Zito says. “The program is going to help jump-start us and give us a little push.”

Through accelerated technical assistance and research, an experienced national economic gardening team will provide Labarre Associates and Teknarus customized services tailored to their business needs.

Among the services provided through the Economic Gardening Initiative:

• A review of the company’s core strategies, including competitive threats and opportunities, business strategy, niche markets and management and employee temperament.
• Market research and competitive intelligence, including qualified sales leads.
• A digital mapping of their geographic areas to assist in targeted marketing efforts and analyzing the competitive environment.
• Search Engine Optimization to increase the company’s visibility and credibility within the market.
• An Internet and Social Media strategy to assist the company in best use of technology to connect with customers.
• Referrals to connect them with top business leaders.

“This is a tremendous opportunity for the businesses that participate in the Economic Gardening Initiative,” says LEDC Vice President Abigail DePino, who coordinates the program in Livingston Parish.

“Many small companies just don’t have the resources to delve into this kind of market research. This can provide them the information they need to determine best practices for growth.” For more information about the Louisiana Economic Gardening Initiative, contact Abigail DePino or Randy Rogers at the Livingston Economic Development Council at 225-686-3982, or Louisiana Economic Development at 225-342-1181.