Colorado’s Bottom-Up Economic Development Plan Initiative
As our economy here in Eagle County slowly improves, it’s more important than ever to work together throughout the valley and to embrace the “bottom-up” efforts being led by the Colorado Office of Economic Development & International Trade.
Governor Hickenlooper’s stated “number one priority” is to build an Economic Development Plan from the bottom-up and chart a course for economic revival county by county in Colorado. For those unfamiliar with this effort, the Governor requested that each county develop and/or update its economic development plan upon receiving current input from every aspect of the county to include local citizens, businesses, civic groups, municipalities and other interested parties. The goal is to have the counties’ economic development plans rolled up into 14 regional economic development plans, which collectively will be rolled up into a statewide economic development plan.
What’s this mean to Eagle County and how are we approaching this “bottom-up” approach?
Here’s a brief overview/timeline of our efforts here in Eagle County:
February 24:
The Vail Valley Partnership is hosting a regional Chamber & Business Association meeting with all other business entities, chambers of commerce and local rotary groups. This meeting will be focused on the state-wide efforts and how the various local groups who represent the business community can be engaged in the development of Eagle County’s plan.
Throughout March:
The Vail Valley Partnership and the Economic Council of Eagle County will be meeting with each town & municipality in the Vail Valley to present the Governor’s plan and to solicit feedback from each town. Town-specific business groups are encouraged to participate in this process and to provide feedback.
March 31, 5pm-7pm, Eagle County Building
The Vail Valley Partnership and the Economic Council of Eagle County will host a community-wide Economic Development panel discussion with representatives from each town & the county on the panel. All businesses and interested community members are invited to attend this 90+ minute planning session & open forum to help craft the Eagle County Economic Development Plan.
Everyone’s role is to participate in this county economic development planning processes, provide input and ideas, and ask friends, family, neighbors and others to participate as well. Everyone is welcome at the March 24 planning meeting and to share ideas. It’s imperative that we, the business community and local residents, support the “bottom up” effort being developed by the Governor’s office and get engaged in the efforts to develop the county Economic Development Plan. Our local efforts will be submitted to the State of Colorado for use in drafting a statewide jobs creation strategy; please ensure your voice is heard!
As always, I encourage all Vail Valley Partnership member businesses to get engaged with the Partnership and to contact us with any suggestions you may have to help us better serve you. If you are not a member of the Partnership, we have a variety of member benefits including networking events, marketing opportunities and cost-savings programs to help you grow your business. Call us at (970) 477-4001 or stop by our offices in Avon at Traer Creek Plaza to share your feedback.