Two counties, single vision

The fact that good people are hard to find makes Ron Klaphake?s exit from the Greeley/Weld Economic Development Action Partnership a dose of bad news for Northern Colorado?s economy.
Klaphake was a productive executive for five years, despite the fact a recession reared up during his tenure. He can take credit for helping to attract major employers to Weld County, including the blockbuster deal that brought Owens-Illinois Inc. to Windsor, and most recently the Lock/Line Inc. call center to Greeley.
By all accounts Klaphake stood up for his constituency in a professional manner.
His departure is a loss, but also an opportunity.
The regional ties that caused Fort Collins and Loveland interests to join forces in 2001 as the Northern Colorado Economic Development Corporation beckon to Greeley and EDAP?s other member towns.
Before EDAP directors decide to hire a replacement for Klaphake, we encourage them to think hard about linking up with the Northern Colorado EDC and the Larimer County communities it represents.
It?s tempting to say that the differences between the Greeley-Weld community and the Fort Collins-Loveland community require each to have their own economic development standard bearers.
We believe those differences, in fact, underline the value of a broader Northern Colorado EDC.
With Greeley and Weld County in union with Fort Collins, Loveland and Larimer County, a regional economic development agency can pack a greater punch. The combination of resources from both counties can create a marketing force to put Northern Colorado ? with its combined population of roughly 500,000 ? on a par with much bigger cities.
Furthermore, the physical and economic diversity that comes with the combination of both counties means more to offer companies that want to expand or relocate in this region.
At the same time, we don?t see any of these cities in Weld County losing their identity in the economic development site-selection process, just because of the pairing with another county.
For instance, the reasons that Owens-Illinois picked its location on the east side of Windsor wouldn?t have changed if they were dealing with one regional agency. The site was right.
Similarly, LockLine picked Greeley because of the characteristics of that community and its workforce. Most likely LockLine took a look at Fort Collins during its search. Greeley was a better choice.
For EDAP officials, it?s tough to give up something that appears to be working. Fort Collins and Loveland businesspeople experienced the same angst before the creation of the NCEDC.