The Hickenlooper administration’s “ground-up” economic-development planning has Colorado counties focusing on ideas such as a Winter Olympics bid and wind farms and power lines on the Eastern Plains.
The process also revealed issues that cut across the state, such as improving broadband access, streamlining regulations and dealing with a dearth of capital for small-business loans.
“The aim was to create a baseline, get counties talking to each other and help us create a state blueprint for the next year or two,” said Dwayne Romero, executive director of the state Office of Economic Development and International Trade.
“We’ve seen some things that transcend regional borders — broadband, regulatory reform and the freeze in lending to small business,” Romero said.
“We could actually drive some of our limited resources to these areas,” Romero said.
The so-called ground-up planning involved all 64 counties grouped into 14 regions.
“It certainly got people talking on the community level,” said Don Cohen, executive director of the Economic Council of Eagle County.
El Paso County Commissioner Sallie Clark said it “tore down silos” opening up the planing process in El Paso and neighboring counties.
All the regions had to organize their plans as a set of goals, strategies, action and outcomes.
“It was a way of harmonizing the approaches of all the counties,” said LaCharles Keesee, executive director for the Denver Office of Economic Development. “It gives Gov. (John) Hickenlooper a working outline.”
The benefits of the process, however, shouldn’t be oversold, said Jeffrey Zax, an economics professor at the University of Colorado at Boulder.
“If the exercise identifies some things the state can act on — regulatory issues, taxation, avoiding cannibalistic competition among counties — that’s a good thing, but those are the limits,” Zax said.
“Most development decisions are local and most are made by the market, not government,” Zax said.
While there are a spate of issues that cut across Colorado — tourism and downtown revitalization were two more — each region identified its unique economic challenges and opportunities.
• The plan for the mountain counties of Pitkin, Eagle, Summit, Grand and Jackson includes a bid for the Winter Olympics, driving tourism with special events and upgrading Interstate 70.
• The plan for El Paso, Teller and Park counties has a goal of retaining and expanding the military and defense sectors. El Paso County is home to five military installations.
• The plan for the counties of the southeastern plains focuses on wind energy and transmission lines, along with agriculture.
• The plan for northwestern counties has a component dealing with drilling for oil and gas and mining.
• The plan for Denver and the surrounding counties focuses on procedures more than specific actions.
“With large counties, that all have economic-development agencies maintaining objectivity and transparency so everyone has a fair chance is important,” said Denver’s Keesee.
Twelve of the regions have developing tourism as a component — ranging from “heritage tourism” in Colorado Springs to “agri-tourism” in Elbert City.
Improved broadband and telecommunications are a component in eight of the regions.
“For us, the key is access to markets,” said Roger Zalneraitis, executive director of the La Plata Economic Development Alliance in Durango. “Broadband, just like a highway, is access the markets.”
The concern over the lack of small-business loans stretched from the northeastern plains counties to the southwestern corner of the state.
The plan for the northeastern counties calls for “alternative forms of capital—incubator funds, revolving loan funds, regional angel/venture capital fund networks.”
In southwestern Colorado, the plan calls for encouraging the state to create a county-level lending group and the development of new revolving loan funds and micro-loan funds.
“Time and time again, we’ve heard this is an issue,” said the state’s Romero.
More than any specific initiative, creating a good business climate — based on an educated workforce, good schools and modern infrastructure — lures business, CU’s Zax said.
“Putting together an economic-development plan while you’re cutting infrastructure and education is fiddling while Rome burns,” Zax said.
Mark Jaffe: 303-954-1912 or mjaffe@denverpost.com
