I had the good fortune to be included as part of the steering committee for the Outdoor Recreation and Tourism component of the “Colorado Blueprint” (the State of Colorado’s economic development plan) on Tuesday, July 17.
I was immensely impressed with the participants from private industry and stakeholders from around the state who are committed to building their businesses in the great state of Colorado. This group of people shared (and will continue to share) their valuable time and expertise to help leverage our assets to help build the tourism and outdoor recreation brand. These private/public partnerships exist for 15 key industries to help Colorado grow and be more business-friendly. It helped reinforce what I already knew: Colorado is strong.
I had planned to use this column as an opportunity to share some of the key lessons from this meeting and future opportunities for our community to leverage the state efforts. But on Friday morning, the news of the Aurora theatre shooting stole the headlines.
Colorado has been through a lot lately, certainly more than our fair share of traumatic issues. Fires. Drought. Sinkholes. And now (another) mass shooting.
Why can’t we catch a break? We’ll never know.
As I watched the updates and news coming from Aurora, it brought me back to the idea that Colorado is strong. Although in complete contrast to the economic development meetings earlier in the week, the idea of Colorado Strong rang true to me.
After all, we’ve made it through our fair share of senseless tragedy with Columbine and with Platte Canyon High Schools. And we’ll make it through the equally senseless Aurora theatre shooting. Because we’re Colorado Strong.
The wake of tragedy is not the time to play politics or to try to score points for various causes. Instead, it is the time to come together as individuals, as a community, during a time of crisis. Forget Batman. The people who helped complete strangers or put others safety before their own are clearly the true superheroes. The first responders are the Superheroes. The victim’s (whose stories are beginning to be told in detail) who made the ultimate sacrifice to save the lives of others are the Superheroes. The doctors who saved lives at the hospital are the Superhero’s here. To these Superheroes and others: thank you for providing the strength that helps make Colorado as strong as it is.
To borrow from the Colorado Tourism Office efforts related to the recent wildfires, one of the best ways to contribute to Colorado’s continued and ongoing recovery effort is to “Share the Love”. While the CTO program is targeted at wildfire recovery, the lesson of “Sharing the Love” can equally be applied to the theatre shooting. Continue to support our first responders, continue to support your neighbors throughout the state and maybe most importantly, continue to live our lives and support those that need it. At the most basic level, let’s continue to “share the love” and continue to be “Colorado Strong” in the face of adversity.
We are incredibly fortunate to live in a state of such natural beauty and a state with a sense of community that brings us together during our collective times of need. The people of Colorado are resilient and can rise above any challenge or tragic issue set before us. We’ve had our share of adversity, and for whatever reason this adversity tends to bring out the best in us.
There’s not a lot to add to the story that hasn’t been told and I’m not remotely qualified to discuss any of the root causes of the theatre shooting or other tragic events in Colorado. Often, these types of tragedies cause us to re-examine things or question what we know, but we cannot lose faith in the people and communities that make up this great state. Coloradans are strong and we know that this strength will help us come out better in the end as we build back from tragedy. Together. As Coloradans do.
As always, I encourage all member businesses to get engaged with the Partnership and to contact us with any suggestions you may have to help us better serve you and for non-members to join the Partnership. Call us at (970) 476-1000 or stop by our offices in Avon at Traer Creek Plaza to share your feedback.