Governor must follow-through on ‘Bottom Up’

Gov. John Hickenlooper’s “Bottom Up Economic Development” strategy has produced 14 regional “statements” identifying priorities, strategies, action steps and expected outcomes.

The process began in January with an executive order by the governor, requesting that each county devise a self-assessment survey, with county plans then combined into regional economic-development plans. Boulder and Broomfield counties were blended into Region 3, which also includes the other Denver-area counties and two mountain counties: Adams, Arapahoe, Clear Creek, Denver, Douglas, Gilpin and Jefferson counties.

While we have had some fear that priorities identified by Boulder and Broomfield counties would be subsumed by our larger neighbors to the south, the resulting Region 3 statement includes many of the goals, in one form or another, that our two counties advocated.

Priorities identified in the regional statement include:

• Retain and encourage expansion of existing businesses and their jobs.

• Improve business climate and resources.

• Attract jobs to the region.

• Promote diversity of tourism opportunities.

• Continually invest in needed infrastructure (i.e., transportation, energy, technology and water) to support future economic-development activity and job growth.

Melding different visions into a coherent, actionable plan is no easy task, but the Region 3 plan includes much that communities in Boulder and Broomfield counties can embrace.

In our view, the first three priorities and the last are all connected. Retention of existing jobs and attraction of new ones – in aerospace, bioscience, clean tech, software and others – requires an improved business climate and regulatory environment, as well as support for investments in infrastructure.

Additionally, promotion of tourism opportunities is something that will be supported not just in the Boulder Valley but also throughout much of the state.

But this should not be the end. Economic-development plans share much in common with business plans: They can sit on the shelf and be seldom used, or they can be living, breathing documents that guide, direct and focus efforts.

We hope that the end result of the Bottom Up process is not 14 regional plans, but an ongoing focus of efforts to improve the state’s economy.

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