Annual Community Economic Development Conference

Keynote Speaker

Chris Gibbons

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 21 years. From the period 1990 to 2008 the number of jobs in Littleton more than doubled from 15,000 to 34,000 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 40 years and they have two adult sons.