The DIA Partnership, formed in 1995 after the opening of Denver International Airport to spur economic development in the surrounding areas, said Thursday it plans to fold its operations into the Metro Denver Economic Development Corp.
Pending final negotiations between the boards of the two organizations, the partnership will operate under the Metro Denver EDC as a special-purpose entity focused on the development of the airport.
The partnership’s board of directors is expected to make the consolidation official on or before Sept. 27, when the group is to hold its annual meeting.
“Now is the ideal time to leverage the (partnership’s) airport-centric mission with Metro Denver EDC’s strength as our region’s major economic development leader,” partnership chief executive Mary Rose Loney said in a statement.
Loney, who joined the partnership last November, will continue working with the Metro Denver EDC as a consultant on airport-related issues.
“DIA is a major economic engine in our region that will be strengthened through this consolidation,” Tom Clark, executive vice president of the Metro Denver EDC, said in a statement. “Our community stands to benefit from this union as it represents a more efficient use of investment resources and increased strategic focus to further the economic potential of DIA.”
The partnership shifted its focus this year to specifically promote the airport and aviation-related job growth rather than development of the surrounding area.
“I’m somewhat saddened to hear about the merger,” said Penfield Tate III, a former partnership board member and shareholder of Denver law firm Greenberg Traurig.
Tate, who left the board in January after serving for three years, said he believed “the future of the airport proper was tied to the development of the surrounding area.”
Staff writer Andy Vuong can be reached at 303-954-1209 or avuong@denverpost.com.
