Denver leaders are launching a $100 million workforce initiative aimed at creating and supporting 10,000 jobs across the city over the next three years, marking a citywide effort to spur economic growth and adapt to post-pandemic changes in downtown activity.
Mayor Mike Johnston announced the on Thursday, a four-part plan focused on funding workforce training, expanding employee credentialing opportunities, providing direct support to help small businesses grow and attracting new employers to Denver.
“The Denver Jobs Agenda will support thousands of quality jobs in Denver,” Johnston said. “This will help support the training that turns a job into a career, the loan that turns a dream into a business, and the paycheck that turns hard work into a good life.”
The initiative features Launch Denver, a $6 million investment from Denver’s Downtown Development Authority and the city focused on helping entrepreneurs develop ideas, design business plans and launch new businesses.
The city’s plan also includes , which will provide $10.5 million through a revolving loan fund that offers local businesses access to capital for expansion. Meanwhile, the Open Denver program will use a $40 million investment from the DDA to attract businesses, jobs and workers downtown.
The final piece of the initiative, Work Denver, will dedicate $45 million toward workforce training and credentialing opportunities designed to prepare Denverites for in-demand jobs. The program will also offer job-seekers resume support, career coaching, and events like job fairs.
“Today’s announcement is important because it gives Denver something we haven’t had before, a dedicated tool to compete for major employers making significant location and expansion decisions,” said David Welsh, executive vice president of Economic Development and Real Estate at the Downtown Denver Partnership, who joined Johnston and other city leaders Thursday morning outside Snooze, a restaurant on Larimer Street in downtown Denver.
“Visitors and residents in downtown have come back. What we want is for the daytime employers to come back,” Welsh said.
In April, The Post found that while the renovation of 16th Street and convention center activity have helped bring more foot traffic back downtown, Denver continues to cling to remote work.
In the Denver area, 22.6% of workers ages 16 and older work from home, according to the latest available data from the Census Bureau.
That rates is well above the national average of 13.3%. However, city leaders point to ongoing DDA investments and city initiatives, including the Denver Jobs Agenda, as efforts aimed at supporting downtown’s recovery.
Speaking to a crowd of reporters, Welsh said each new employer that chooses downtown Denver brings employees who help support restaurants, retailers, hotels, transit services, arts organizations, and cultural institutions that rely on a strong daytime economy.
“Those investments generate ripple effects throughout our local economy, strengthening property values, expanding the downtown tax base, and creating new opportunities for Denver residents. Today’s announcement really sends a message beyond Denver. It tells companies across the country that Denver is open and investing in its future,” he said.
The programs, Johnston said, are funded largely by state and federal partners and the DDA, with “almost zero dollars” from the . He later clarified that the “total all-in city number” is “somewhere around a million dollars or less.”
“We think this is an incredibly important, urgent and ambitious plan to support all of Denver businesses and all of Denver residents,” Johnston said.
Anyone looking to build a career, start or grow a small business, or relocate a company to Denver can visit , which serves as the one-stop shop for the city’s new jobs initiative.
