NCBR can lead region to new identity in next decade

For me, the past 15 issues of the Northern Colorado Business Report have been a delightful run down memory lane. Our stellar editorial team combed through past volumes to bring readers annual highlights, some positive and some – like the dot-com bust – not so much, but still important to the development of our region.

Having now recapped the business news in Larimer and Weld counties since 1995, where do we go from here? Anyone paying attention through the years knows that we refer to these two counties as one region – Northern Colorado or NoCo for short.

Now we are calling for one “brand,” something more descriptive that speaks eloquently to the amenities of our region. Something that can easily become recognizable throughout the rest of the world!

Ever hear of North Carolina’s Research Triangle? That brand didn’t just happen overnight. It was 50 years in the making and came with careful, thoughtful planning. That region originally consisted of three cities – Raleigh, Durham and Chapel Hill – and now encompasses 17 counties with a population approaching 2 million.

“The Triangle” originally referred to Research Triangle Park, created specifically to attract high-tech enterprises. Although the name is now used to refer to the geographic region, “The Triangle” started with the research universities, and their educated workforce, which attracted targeted businesses. Creation of The Triangle lifted North Carolina from one of the poorest states in the nation in the 1950s, with a population about what Colorado supported in 1990, to the 10th most populous and one that has turned a brain drain into a brain draw.

Do we have the assets here in Northern Colorado to accomplish what North Carolina achieved? Yes – well, most of them. Just take a look at those mountains. They’re just as inspirational as the hills of North Carolina – and we have much less humidity.

But what else is important?

• Institutions of higher learning, especially research schools that create technology that successfully transfers to the marketplace. We’ve got the universities and colleges to make it happen, especially when you throw in the University of Colorado in Boulder, which was just honored by the Colorado BioScience Association for partnering with Colorado State University. So, check that one on the list.
• A well-educated, entrepreneurial workforce. Check.
• Private sector employers willing to make an investment in university research, as well as their communities. Remember the $1 million gift to CSU from Woodward, or the $30 million from Ed Warner, who discovered the Jonah natural gas field? Check.

What we need to realize the dream

What we still need to realize the dream is collaboration between our public, private and academic sectors.

Political leaders at the municipal, local, and state level are beginning to understand that the people who live and work here do not care about city boundaries. But the sales-tax mechanism for funding city and county operations works against true regional cooperation.

What else is missing?

First and foremost, a regional transportation system, including a regional airport.

The Triangle has four separate city transit authorities working together as Triangle Transit. We have three municipal transportation systems in Northern Colorado but have failed to establish a Regional Transportation Authority. This is a challenge that must be overcome!

Joint operation of the Fort Collins/Loveland Municipal Airport is a great example of regional effort, but the facility is currently landlocked. Cooperation with owners of surrounding land could overcome that obstacle, and creative partnerships with the Greeley/Weld County Airport could bring us closer to this goal.

Let’s never lose sight of the fact that strong employment – primary jobs, not low-wage service jobs – is the main driver for a healthy economy. If you want great city amenities, you must have strong employment.

And a strong plan for communicating with potential employers. I recently discovered a city of Fort Collins general fund spending chart that referred to economic development as “economic health.” Anybody who thinks that “development” has to be an ugly word best avoided in polite company is completely missing the point.

During our Business Leaders Breakfast at Bixpo last month, Loveland business development manager Betsey Hale asked the question, “Who will be the leaders in Northern Colorado for the next 50 years?”

NCBR can, and will, be a catalyst for smart business growth in this region. By smart, I mean perfect practice. Practice does not make perfect; perfect practice makes perfect. And that requires three things:

1. set specific goals;
2. obtain immediate feedback;
3. concentrate on techniques as well as outcome.

NCBR has long called for local municipalities to work together for the sake of the people who live in one community and work in another. We’ve referred to Interstate 25 as the Main Street of Northern Colorado. We have called for one economic development agency working to bring good paying jobs to both counties.

Now it’s time to work together for one brand. What is good for Greeley is good for Fort Collins is good for Loveland, and it’s all good for the people who live and work in Northern Colorado.

We look forward to continuing to be part of the future of the region.

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