Bill Ritter wants to be like Bill Richardson.
Gov.-elect Ritter said Wednesday he plans to appoint an experienced business executive to oversee recruitment and relocation of companies to Colorado.
The Cabinet-level post will help the state market itself to companies willing to move, he said. Ritter pointed to the success of Rich ardson, New Mexico’s Democratic governor, as a model.
“I’m going to bring someone out of the private sector who is knowledgable about how to market the state,” Ritter said during a news conference on the steps of the state Capitol. “We believe we can do a lot as it relates to economic development. It’s not all about financial incentives.”
Colorado, which does not typically offer big incentive packages to lure companies, has lost out on high-profile corporate relocations such as Boeing, which moved its headquarters from Seattle to Chicago in 2001.
In addition, a 2005 study by the free-market Mackinac Center for Public Policy in Michigan questioned whether such recruitment efforts in that state were effective in driving long-term economic growth, reducing unemployment and increasing per- capita income.
Ritter did not say how the new position would differ from work performed by Brian Vogt, the executive director of the Colorado Office of Economic Development and International Trade.
Ritter declined to name candidates. He said existing economic-development officials would help select the appointee.
Among those said to be under consideration for the new post are Bruce Alexander of Vectra Bank Colorado; Don Kortz of Fuller Real Estate; Don Elliman, a board member of Children’s Hospital and co-chairman of its fundraising campaign; Wesley Brown of St. Charles Capital; and Erik Osborn of Osborn Development Corp.
“I haven’t even thought about it,” Alexander, 53, said when asked Wednesday if he were interested in the position.
“If he asked me, I’d have to give it serious consideration,” said Don Elliman, 62, the former president of Denver-based Kroenke Sports Enterprises, which owns the Denver Nuggets, Colorado Avalanche and Pepsi Center.
Kortz, 66, said he had heard through friends that he was being mentioned as a candidate for the position. He added, “I have not spoken directly with Ritter.”
Persuading a highly paid corporate executive to leave the private sector for public office could require a salary of more than $200,000, said Tom Clark, executive vice president of the Metro Denver Economic Development Corp. By comparison, the governor makes $90,000.
“It’s difficult for a state government to pay scale” for top-level talent, Clark said.
He added that Ritter would likely appeal to the candidate’s passion for Colorado and sense of civic duty.
Nearly every state has someone working on corporate recruitment and economic development, said Mark Arend, editor of Site Selection magazine, an Atlanta-based publication focused on corporate expansion and relocation.
He said some states appoint an official at the Cabinet level, a move that provides added weight during sales pitches.
New Mexico, for instance, has been especially active, luring high-profile projects such as Rich ard Branson’s Virgin Galactic space-travel company.
Rick Homans, New Mexico’s economic-development secretary, said the $225 million deal is projected to produce about 5,000 jobs and $750 million to $1 billion revenue during the next 15 years.
Homans said the state agreed to put up $135 million of the $225 million needed for the spaceport to serve as a hub for the nascent space-tourism industry. Ho mans is a former newspaper publisher who had never worked in government until Richardson tapped him in 2002.
Blair Richardson, a Denver Republican and managing partner of Bow River Capital Partners, supported and helped raise money for Ritter’s campaign.
He said Wednesday that the state’s 41st governor can “make a huge difference in our state” by hiring someone focused on recruitment of corporations.
He added that Colorado needs to approach companies before their possible relocation becomes public, scoring deals before other states even bid.
Staff writer Will Shanley can be reached at 303-954-1260 or wshanley@denverpost.com.
Luring new business
Possible candidates for a new Cabinet-level economic-development post in the Ritter administration:
Bruce Alexander
Age: 53
Background: In February, the president and CEO of Vectra Bank Colorado was appointed to the board of directors of the Federal Reserve Bank of Kansas City, Denver Branch Board. Before joining Vectra, he served as executive director of the Denver Urban Renewal Authority. He has worked in banking for more than 20 years, including financing projects such as the Denver Pavilions retail complex and the Six Flags Elitch Gardens amusement park.
Wesley Brown
Age: 52
Background: The managing director of St. Charles Capital investment bank is the former executive vice president of the Wallach Co. Before that, he was a senior vice president in the corporate finance department of Boettcher & Co. Brown has served on the boards of the Denver Public Library Commission, the Iliff School of Theology, the Steering Committee to the Geography and Map Division of the Library of Congress, Planned Parenthood of the Rocky Mountains and the Rocky Mountain Map Society.
Donald Elliman
Age: 62
Background: President of Kroenke Sports until retiring in 2004, he helped Kroenke acquire the Colorado Rapids soccer team and Colorado Mammoth lacrosse team, the Universal Lending Pavilion and the Paramount Theatre. He was once publisher of People magazine, publisher of Sports Illustrated and executive vice president of Time Warner. He is on the board of Children’s Hospital and co-chairs its fundraising campaign.
Don Kortz
Age: 66
Background: Chairman of Fuller Real Estate and chairman of the Children’s Hospital board of directors. He is a former chairman of the Denver Metro Chamber of Commerce and was involved with the formation of the Metro Denver Economic Development Corp. He has served on the boards of National Jewish Hospital, Rose Medical Center, the Denver Zoological Foundation and Merchants Mortgage, and is a past president and CEO of Rose Community Foundation.
Erik Osborn
Age: 38
Background: The Denver native has worked for family-owned Osborn Development Corp. in the Rocky Mountain region for more than a dozen years. The company’s projects in Denver include One Lincoln Park, which, when completed in 2008, will be Denver’s tallest residential tower, and Diamond Lofts near Coors Field.
BARRY OSBORNE AND BARBARA HUDSON, DENVER POST RESEARCH LIBRARY
