Q: What role can the mayor play in bringing jobs to Denver?
A: With 25 years of experience creating jobs, I understand that recruiting and retaining good jobs must be my top priority. This requires a long-term strategy for educating and training our workforce to meet the diverse needs of modern business. As mayor I will make Denver the best place to educate children, train a world-class work force, and grow great businesses.
We must expect more from city government to support and incentivize small and medium-sized businesses to create jobs in Denver, while ensuring that we keep Denver business-friendly for companies looking to grow here. I will partner with the Denver business community in an intensive recruitment effort to demonstrate to companies and business leaders why Denver is the ideal location for their headquarters.
One of my first priorities will be to organize and staff an economic development office with a clear mission of promoting the city and targeting specific job growth opportunities. The Office of Economic Development must be focused on local job growth, not merely dolling out federal dollars.
Q: What are the most important steps that need to be undertaken to lure more businesses to Denver?
A: The mayor’s office must have short and long term strategy to attract business to Denver. In the short term, we need to cut red tape in city government and offer more incentives to small and medium sized businesses.
In the long term, we must build a world-class education system that prepares Denver’s kids for a career in the 21st century global economy. The cities that commit to math and science education will lead in competing for engineering, biotechnology and clean-energy jobs. I brought the National Math and Science Initiative (NMSI) to DPS to offer more advanced placement math and science classes to all students and I’m committed to expanding partnerships like NMSI.
Q: Why have Dallas, Minneapolis and Atlanta been able to land those major corporate headquarter businesses and not Denver? What could be done to attract those kinds of businesses to the city?
A: In the past several years, we’ve lost numerous Fortune 500 companies to places like rural Louisiana, and we need to expect more for Denver’s economic future. With 25 years of business experience, I know that companies are looking for a well-educated workforce, a reasonable tax structure and creative public-private partnerships.
Raising expectations for our schools and universities is the most important economic development strategy for the next mayor. As the founder of an education non-profit and a charter school board member, I’ve seen firsthand what our children can accomplish when we provide them the tools to succeed. That’s why I’ll push for advanced placement classes in all of our schools, expand technical and vocational training at our high schools and community colleges and aim to dramatically increase our graduation rates.
We also need to avoid raising taxes on businesses as we recover from the recession. In particular, Denver needs to offer targeted incentives like waivers on the most onerous business taxes. Our investment in Denver Union Station is an example of a public and private sector collaboration that created jobs. Building the type of contemporary urban environment companies now desire, it helped lure DaVita, Denver’s newest fortune 500 company. I’m proud to have worked on that project, and as mayor, I’ll continue building public-private partnerships like that to bring new jobs to our city.
My first focus would be logical industries that Denver should target for headquarters or major corporate offices. Renewable energy, natural resources, and bio-technology are example of smart targeting of businesses and good jobs.
Q: Describe your economic plan – something that drives economic development in the city?
A: We must expect more from City Hall to partner with businesses to create jobs by cutting red tape and making it easier to do business in Denver. We must:
* Cut red tape in the way of growing businesses and jobs by expecting our government to be more responsive to current and potential employers. My first priority will be a top-to-bottom review of all city regulations and move quickly to eliminate burdensome or unnecessary rules that cost jobs. Next, to foster investment in Denver, we’ll create an online, one-stop website for all permit, regulatory and licensing filings, eliminating duplicative review processes and unnecessary paperwork.
* Encourage innovation by establishing an advanced technology business incubator in Denver that partners with local colleges to utilize their laboratories and technological facilities for business start-ups. Providing low cost office space combined with access to cutting edge technology can spur new companies and help them bring their products and services to market.
* Actively recruit new companies to Denver by expecting more from our city’s business leaders to attract new companies and making Denver more business-friendly, including offering appropriate incentives.
* Put education and training to work through creating a program in which our administration will link up local businesses with our community colleges and vocational programs to ensure that we’re providing the skilled workers our companies need to grow.
Q: What experience in your own life would you bring that would guide you in improving economic development in Denver?
A: I spent decades working with cities and states throughout the west on job-creating investments like hospitals, schools and roads. These projects included the construction of Denver International Airport, Rose Hospital and, most recently, Denver Union Station.
As a State Senator, I cut red tape to create hundreds of transportation jobs, helped cultivate new energy businesses jobs and worked to incentivize companies to retain employees.
As a lifelong education advocate and businessman, I know that today’s companies are looking for a smart, well-educated workforce and we must expect more from our school system to help attract business to Denver.
