Golden Shovel Agency

What Golden Shovel Agency does

Golden Shovel Agency (GSA), founded in 2009 and headquartered in Little Falls, Minnesota, is a full-service economic development marketing firm serving public and private economic development organizations (EDOs), utilities, cooperatives, and regional groups across the United States, Canada, and the Caribbean. The firm operates a 50+ person team and has completed 400+ projects for 350+ clients over 16+ years, with a stated 95% client retention rate and 7+ year average employee tenure.

The company's core product is the Economic Gateway CMS — described as the only website platform built exclusively for economic developers — which integrates property databases, workforce and demographic data, storytelling tools, and Business Retention & Expansion (BR&E) resources into a unified system. A "shared innovation" model rolls new features built for individual clients out to the entire base. Supporting technology includes the PlaceVR division (360-degree virtual reality video for workforce attraction), the GURU interactive site selector, the GateKeeper ongoing managed-service program, and integrations with third-party data tools (SizeUp, JobsEQ by Chmura, GrowthZone). Additional service lines include impactLOCAL, impactAIR (airport economic development), and full-stack strategy, branding, content, video, digital advertising, and lead generation services.

GSA's business model combines professional services (strategy, branding, video, content) with a subscription/managed-service layer (Economic Gateway platform plus GateKeeper). Pricing is custom and quote-based, with multi-year enterprise contracts. Distribution is direct, targeting EDO decision-makers through an industry-association network (IEDC, NREDA, TEDC, MAEDC), the ShovelTalk podcast, webinars, whitepapers, and conference presence. The firm is privately held with no disclosed institutional funding, co-owned by founder Ron Kresha, with Aaron Brossoit as CEO and Bethany Quinn as President.

Name

Golden Shovel Agency

Legal name

Golden Shovel Agency

Website

https://goldenshovelagency.com

Company type

Private

Founded year

2009

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

1–10 employees

Short description

Golden Shovel Agency is a Little Falls, Minnesota-based economic development marketing firm serving 350+ public and private EDOs across the U.S., Canada, and the Caribbean. It offers the proprietary Economic Gateway CMS, PlaceVR virtual reality, and full-service strategy, branding, and content capabilities.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Economic Development Marketing Services

NAICS

Professional, Scientific, and Technical Services (541), Advertising Agencies (541810)

SIC

Services-Business Services, Nec (7389)

akta.pro primary industry

Strategy & IT Advisory (BPAEAAAA)

akta.pro secondary industry

Digital Development & ICT4D / GovTech Technical Assistance (BPADAEAL)

Keywords

• Economic development marketing
• Website platform solutions
• Site selection tools
• Workforce attraction campaigns
• Virtual reality content

Headquarters

HQ city

Little Falls

HQ country

United States

HQ region

North America

Offices1 record

Markets served

GTM type

B2B

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Personnel, Technology or R&D, Marketing or Sales, Operations

Revenue model

1. Economic Development Marketing Services: Full-service economic development marketing including strategy, branding, content creation, digital advertising, video production, website development, and VR experiences for economic development organizations seeking to attract business and talent to their communities.
2. Website Platform Subscription (Economic Gateway): Website platform subscription for economic development organizations, including ongoing GateKeeper support services for content updates, security, and optimization.
3. Strategic Planning and Consulting: Economic development strategy services including 5-year economic development plans, target industry strategies, BR&E strategies, and marketing strategies.

Pricing tiers

Go-to-market motion1 record

Distribution channels1 record

Marketing channels8 records

Core offering

Golden Shovel Agency is a full-service economic development strategy and marketing firm that provides economic development organizations (EDOs) with strategy development, custom websites built on the proprietary Economic Gateway CMS platform, digital advertising and lead generation, video and 360-degree VR content, branding, content creation, tourism marketing, and business retention and expansion (BR&E) services. The company sells its services on a consultative, quote-based model to public and private EDOs, regional groups, utilities, and cooperatives across the United States, Canada, and the Caribbean.

Product overview

Golden Shovel Agency offers the Economic Gateway platform as its core product—the only website platform built exclusively for economic developers. The platform integrates property databases, workforce data, storytelling tools, and BR&E resources with shared innovation so all clients benefit from new features. Supporting services include PlaceVR (360-degree VR video for workforce attraction), impactLOCAL (local economic development marketing), and impactAIR (airport economic development). The company provides a full suite of strategy, marketing, and content services including digital advertising, lead generation, branding, video production, and business retention & expansion support. Educational content offerings include the ShovelTalk podcast, webinar series, and downloadable eBooks/whitepapers. GateKeeper provides ongoing website support and optimization.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Products and services

• Economic Gateway Platform
• PlaceVR 360-Degree VR Video Service
• impactLOCAL
• impactAIR
• GateKeeper Ongoing Support Service
• Strategy Services
• Digital Advertising
• Lead Generation
• Video Services
• Branding Services
• Content Creation
• Tourism Marketing
• Business Retention and Expansion (BR&E)

Quantifiable outcome

• Client Retention Rate of 95%
• +4 more outcomes

Named customers22 records

Segments3 records

Ideal customer profiles3 records

Technology focussed Yes

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Integration3 records

AI capability7 records

Feature6 records

Partnerships

One partnership is on record.

• International Economic Development Council (IEDC)coreOthersGSA is recognized by IEDC with award-winning work and its clients regularly win IEDC Excellence Awards. The company also displays IEDC membership badge on its website.

Scale indicators11 records

Recent moves6 records

Expansion highlights6 records

Direct peers

• Development Counselors International (DCI): DCI is a long-established economic development marketing and communications firm that helps cities, regions, and states attract business investment and talent. It directly competes with Golden Shovel Agency for the same EDO client base using a similar full-service strategy, branding, and digital marketing model.
• Avalanche Consulting: Avalanche Consulting provides economic development strategy, target industry analysis, and marketing services to EDOs across the US. It overlaps directly with Golden Shovel's strategy practice and shares the same niche, public-sector-leaning client base.
• Atlas Advertising: Atlas Advertising is an economic development marketing agency that produces branding, websites, video, and campaigns for EDOs, chambers, and communities. It competes with Golden Shovel Agency for EDO marketing and communications engagements.
• Biggins Lacy Shapiro & Company (BLS): BLS is an economic development and location strategy consulting firm serving state, regional, and local EDOs. It competes with Golden Shovel on the strategy side, including target industry analysis, BR&E, and marketing strategy.
• GIS Planning (ZoomProspector): GIS Planning offers ZoomProspector, a SaaS site selection and property database platform used by EDOs. It is the most direct software competitor to Golden Shovel's Economic Gateway CMS, targeting the same end customer with overlapping property and workforce functionality.
• Camoin Associates: Camoin Associates is an economic development consulting firm providing strategic planning, target industry analysis, and marketing support to EDOs. It competes with Golden Shovel's strategy services and shares the same public-sector client profile.

Emerging players

• Buxton Company: Buxton provides customer analytics and site selection intelligence for retail, healthcare, and economic development clients. Its analytics and site selection tooling overlaps with the GURU interactive site selector within Economic Gateway, though Buxton serves a broader retail/client base.
• MBSolutions / Site Selection Group: Site Selection Group provides location advisory and economic development consulting for corporate site selection and EDO strategy. It competes for EDO strategy and target industry engagements, though it is more corporate-side focused than Golden Shovel.

Broad incumbents

• Esri: Esri is the dominant GIS/mapping platform, used by many EDOs for site visualization and property analysis. While not a direct marketing competitor, Esri's ArcGIS platform overlaps with Economic Gateway's mapping and data integration capabilities and is a broader incumbent in the EDO technology stack.
• JLL (Jones Lang LaSalle) — Location Strategy practice: JLL's Location Strategy and Industrial brokerage practice advises corporate site selectors and works closely with EDOs. It represents a broader incumbent that competes for high-value economic development strategy and corporate attraction engagements.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat6 records

Key risks6 records

Key highlights7 records

Customer concentration

• Xx.com/goldshovel
• YouTubeyoutube.com/@goldenshovel
• Facebookfacebook.com/shoveltoss
• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/golden-shovel-agency
• TikToktiktok.com/@goldenshovelagency

Compliance2 records

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles8 records

Subsidiaries1 record

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A

Investments3 records

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about Golden Shovel Agency