North Weld Alliance keeps eyes on economic prize

AULT – Heading into the end of its second year, the North Weld County Business Alliance continues to grow and mature in its efforts to boost business for a coalition of small towns.
Membership has doubled since the fall of 2003 to about 60, a business directory is in place, a Web site constructed and the organization is building an economic development committee and new business networking opportunities.x09
Alliance president Fred Bauer said the organization remains committed to its original goals of educating residents of the region, as well businesses that may want to relocate there, about what north Weld County has to offer.
NorWelCo, as the business alliance is known, got its start in the spring of 2003 when government officials and business owners from the region – which includes Ault, Eaton, Briggsdale, Grover, Nunn and Pierce – banded together to cultivate a new economic development organization.x09
At the time, Eaton mayor Keith McIntyre and Ault’s former mayor Stan Cass saw a need to alert residents of the region to the business resources that existed there. Response to an initial mailing revealed hundreds of small businesses producing everything from free-range chicken to custom ironwork.
NorWelCo also wanted to share information with residents on the various community events that take place in each of the small north Weld County communities.
“We wanted to get out a resource book that showed people what’s available in the area,´ said Fred Bauer, NorWelCo president and president of Farmers Bank in Ault. NorWelCo worked with a Windsor publisher who produces local directories.
“We have Local Pages now for Eaton, Ault, Pierce, Nunn, Briggsdale and Grover,” Bauer said. The north Weld edition is “a very handy book,” Bauer noted. It resembles a phone book but is completely local.
NorWelCo members receive a discount on advertising in the publication. “That’s one of the benefits of belonging to NorWelCo,” Bauer said.
The directory will be updated annually. Advertising in the directory is limited to businesses in the north Weld County trade area. The publication also lists residential phone numbers, Bauer said. “If you have a phone number, whether household or business, it’s in there.”
Over the past year NorWelCo has divided its main tasks among three groups: a membership committee, an economic development committee and a community committee that would develop and enhance interaction between the various communities.
The most active of the three at this point are the membership and economic development groups, Bauer said, reflecting the major goals of the organization.
Since is inception NorWelCo has sought to build a base of information about the economic development opportunities its region offers. That’s a daunting task, said Ted Carlson, president of the newly formed economic development committee.
Carlson, a partner with Austin and Austin Real Estate, said, “We’re trying to take a look at what we have in the areas north of Greeley involving the towns we’re trying to foster some economic growth in.”
The group has essentially started from scratch, Carlson said. “It’s a pretty broad scope at this point,” he said. “We’re trying to see if we can’t get some things put together to see where we are, what we have to offer and what we can pull together.”
That involves scrutinizing everything from infrastructure to zoning in the region to seeing what’s available and how that fits with what might be needed.
Carlson said Ron Klaphake, president and CEO of the Greeley/Weld Economic Development Action Partnership, has worked with his group.
“Ron’s done a lot of work with us as far as trying to get us to understand what they do and the kind of things they would need to have put together if a company were to call.”
NorWelCo members hope the work of Carlson and his committee will help put the region in the running and perhaps even at the top of the pile when interested businesses come to town.
“We want to put ourselves in a position that maybe sets us over and above the other locations that might be out there. We’d like to be at the top of the list,” Carlson said.
Meanwhile, NorWelCo continues to work on internal economic development. Kitty Peterson, NorWelCo secretary and chairman of the membership committee, said she got involved with the organization about a year ago because she wanted to develop her business in north Weld county.
A CPA, Peterson lives between Ault and Pierce and maintains a practice in Loveland. She also practices out of her home. “I’m interested in growing my business in that part of the country and developing business in northern Weld County.”
In September, NorWelCo held its first Business After Hours event at the Eaton Country Club. The membership committee slated a second business-to-business gathering in November.
“It was very successful,” Peterson said of the inaugural business after hours. “We had about 25 people attend.” The event drew members, guests and visitors with businesses in northern Colorado, Peterson said.
Like NorWelCo itself, Peterson said she expects interest in the business after hours events to grow. “Our goal is to provide something that will draw people to meetings,” she said. “We’re working on ideas that will be attractive to the membership and get them involved.”