Governor visiting to learn about ‘Economic Gardening’

Washington Gov. Jay Inslee will visit Richland on Tuesday to learn more about economic gardening, an approach to helping companies primed for growth reach the next level.

The governor meets with the Tri-Cities Regional Chamber of Commerce at 11 a.m. Tuesday at Elevate, 79 Aaron Drive, Richland.

The governor is learning about the progress of the Tri-Cities’ economic gardening pilot program. The area was the first in the Northwest to experiment with the entrepreneurial approach to helping companies that have outgrown the start-up stage but have not yet grown to their full economic potential.

Traditionally second-stage companies have fewer than 100 employees and $50 million in revenue. Young firms have a high failure rate for a variety of reasons, chiefly lack of access to capital.

The Tri-Cities pilot is mentoring five such companies. This year, the Washington State Department of Commerce launched a statewide Economic Gardening pilot modeled on the local program.

This story was originally published May 2, 2016 at 7:50 PM with the headline "Governor visiting to learn about ‘Economic Gardening’."