The economic development model of most cities worldwide is broken. Large companies are persuaded to relocate on the promise of securing the cheapest place to do business. They are offered lucrative incentives, free land and tax abatements. However, companies willing to relocate focus solely on the bottom line. They pay low wages, are poor land stewards and don't have ties to the community. These companies don't stay long after incentives dry up, or the local economy improves. And with the advent of the Internet, it's always cheaper to do business in China or India than in the other 5,000 US cities like Pueblo competing for the 50 businesses that relocate per year. Research from the US Small Business Administration shows that small businesses created between 60-80% of net new jobs since the 1990s and currently employ over half of all US workers. This prompted us to explore avenues to diversify our economic development strategies by cultivating local enterprises to expand their market areas nationwide. Pueblo County employs “economic gardening” strategies to help small businesses grow one job at a time, favoring long-term stable growth. Our no-cost program uses Geographic Information Systems (GIS) to provide local businesses data-driven strategies once afforded only by Fortune 500 companies. We map and analyze customer data to develop specialized business growth plans. By employing psychographics, commercial and government data to identify markets where conditions are ripe for business expansion, we’ve seen dramatic growth in small business profitability and in turn, the forming of several new high-wage jobs.