Preservation of Colorado’s enterprise zone tax credits surfaced as a common theme Monday as Gov. John Hickenlooper ended a four-day statewide tour to discuss business development strategies.
Meetings in Limon and Loveland on Monday, and other cities earlier, served as community forums to solicit ideas for Hickenlooper’s bottom-up economic initiative.
At the Limon meeting, Hickenlooper presented one of his own ideas — a recreational bicycle tour through the eastern Plains.
“Having driven all across the plains, it’s beautiful and it’s wonderful bike- riding territory,” he said. “I can just image having barbecues in somebody’s barn and have musicians play.”
The economic-development strategy calls for each of the state’s 64 counties to identify business development priorities. The counties will be grouped into 14 regions, and those plans will create “a comprehensive, statewide economic-development plan,” according to an executive order issued last week by Hickenlooper.
Several attendees at the meetings said tax credits available in state-designated enterprise zones are important economic tools. Lawmakers last year scaled back enterprise zone tax credits, and some people worried that further limits could be imposed by the legislature this year.
“We really need the enterprise zones to stay in place and stay intact,” said Lisa Nolder, executive director of Prowers County Economic Development.
Other themes mentioned in the meetings included preservation of water rights, more state support for renewable energy projects, extension of high-speed Internet to underserved rural areas and state financial incentives tailored to smaller-scale job creation.
“One job to us is like 10 jobs, or 100, to the Front Range,” said Kari Linker, director of economic development in Morgan County.
The economic-development plan calls for county ideas and initiatives to be combined into the regional plans by mid-May.
Steve Raabe: 303-954-1948 or sraabe@denverpost.com
