Our decisions today will impact what our community looks like in 20 years
While Eagle County has changed in the decades since Vail Mountain started turning chairlifts in 1962 and since Vail Valley Partnership’s predecessor organization the Vail Resort Association was founded in 1964, our foundational belief has not. We believe in the ability of our local businesses to improve lives, solve problems, and strengthen our community.
Throughout the years, as our community has grown, a clear pattern has emerged. When citizens, business leaders, and government officials work together, things work – that is true in Eagle County, and it is true across America. There are greater opportunities for better jobs, new industries, and equity of opportunity when we work together to address our challenges. When we work together, our communities thrive, the economy grows, our businesses succeed, and our citizens prosper. When that partnership of working together breaks down and citizens, businesses, and government fail to work together, those opportunities and the reasons for optimism fade.
To me, the choice is simple: regional competitiveness requires moving from talk to action. The future we want to build allows everyone to build a better future for themselves. It is generally accepted that we must find ways to address our housing, transit, early childhood, workforce, and health insurance challenges to ensure Eagle County’s regional competitiveness
It’s why our job today—and every day—is to build the strongest relationship possible among our community members, business leaders, and elected officials. We are the champions for a stronger community. We understand and represent the business perspective on local and regional issues, help businesses thrive and find customers while saving money, and provide regional leadership around ‘big issues of importance. Regional economic prosperity is linked to an area’s ability to prevent, withstand, and quickly recover from major disruptions (i.e., ‘shocks’) to its economic base.
We must continue to help build and sustain a business-friendly community that is welcoming, supportive, and appreciative of the businesses that make our quality of life possible. As the largest Chamber of Commerce between Colorado’s Front Range and Salt Lake City, and one of the largest chambers of commerce in Colorado, we are keenly aware of the needs of Eagle County business and community issues in a way that few other organizations or associations can.
We recognize that our community is at an inflection point; much like the founders of Vail in the early 1960s, the decisions we make in the next year or so will determine what type of community we have in twenty or forty years.
Addressing our affordable housing issue is essential to the continued retention of our young professionals and families as well as the success of our business community across industry sectors.
Fixing and enhancing our transit services to increase convenience and ridership, explore operational efficiencies, push for transportation infrastructure improvements, expand transit access, and increase air service will improve the livability of our community and provide more access to locals.
Increasing demand for skilled workforce across industry sectors requires a concerted community approach to workforce development efforts. Our community needs to be more competitive by supporting high-quality education systems that address workforce needs through innovative programming.
Our community is facing a workforce retention & attraction crisis: There are too many open jobs without people to fill them. The result: Too many businesses can’t grow, compete, and thrive. And too many workers can’t realize their Eagle County dreams. Moving from talk to action on housing, transit, early childhood, workforce, and health insurance costs enables thousands of businesses to create the jobs and economy that offer each of us to flourish.
Chris Romer is president & CEO of Vail Valley Partnership, the regional chamber of commerce. Learn more at VailValleyPartnership.com