Wellington loosens ties with WEDA

WELLINGTON — Wellington’s Town Board dissolved the Wellington Economic Development Authority as an authority of the board.

WEDA — as the organization is now known — is no longer a volunteer board under direction of the Town of Wellington, but an independent group that acts more as a chamber of commerce.

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WEDA employs Reggie Kemp — who is also a member of the board of trustees — on a part-time basis as WEDA administrator.

“This is an evolution, we had outgrown our ability to function as an all-volunteer group,´ said Doug Andersen, president of WEDA. “Having Reggie as an employee brings a legitimacy to the organization.”

WEDA is now an evolving organization and is looking at a chamber of commerce model as well as others. It has a board of directors, which includes members of the volunteer-version of WEDA.

“We needed an administrator to look after the day-to-day operations and this seemed to be a natural segue,” Andersen said. “We hope to build our membership and the commerce for the town and find employers. We want to point the revenue plow back into the chamber, but we are still going to look to the town for assistance.”

For 2005, WEDA received $12,000 from the town to pay Kemp a part-time salary.

Andersen said WEDA chose to employ Kemp because of his level of interest in Wellington and his desire to build the town. WEDA will also receive money from the town on a quarterly basis as needed.

“My interest is in growing the community and that is going to require some planning,” Kemp said. “I encourage long-term planning and I hope to pull knowledge from key folks who are involved with WEDA.”

Kemp said he wants to expand the town’s sales-tax base by encouraging business and residential growth. He also looks to Denver Mayor John Hickenlooper for inspiration in working together with other communities in the area to encourage new businesses and for businesses to move here.

“We continue to hope to increase our presence in NCEDC (Northern Colorado Economic Development Corp.) to help us expand,” he said.

Andersen and Kemp agreed it was too premature to speculate on plans the group has, but Kemp said they hope to gather ideas and prioritize their needs.

“We have over 2,000 residential sites available (for new home construction) and we are encouraging business growth and feel our Interstate 25 frontage would be a great strategic fit for commercial development,” Kemp said.