October 21, 2011

New NCEDC president and CEO takes reins

LOVELAND — The Northern Colorado Economic Development Corp. has a new leader to guide its work in helping to pump up Larimer County’s sagging economy.

Walter Elish, who admits to being in his “mid-50s,” began his duties with NCEDC on Oct. 10 after spending the last six years as president and CEO of the Aroostook Partnership for Progress in Caribou, Maine.

Following is a Q&A with Elish shortly after he began his new position:

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Q: Is it going to be a big challenge to come to an area that’s much different from Maine and with a much bigger population?

A: It’s not a challenge – it’s an opportunity. Maine was a difficult sell. But that experience is going to lend itself very well to this. I’m looking forward to this.

Q: Is there a situation in your background that’s similar to Larimer County?

A: Waukesha County (Wis.) was very different from Maine. We had companies coming in all the time, and we could be pretty selective on who we recruited.

I think the experience I had there with targeted companies and initiatives will lend itself very well to this area. Larimer County is a big county, and we will go after businesses that will be a good fit for this county.

Q: Do you expect to develop ties with other local economic development agencies and departments in attracting primary employers?

A: We need to get to the point where we’re helping each other, because we can’t afford to have a company consider our region and one community not be able to meet their needs when another community could.

I don’t know that’s not happening here, but we want to get to that point. Over the next few months, I’ll be meeting with a lot of these parties to talk about how we’re working together and how we could be working better together.

Q: Do you expect to work closely with Upstate Colorado Economic Development (NCEDC’s counterpart in Weld County)?

A: I’m a cooperative kind of guy. There’s probably some friendly competition between the two counties. But the more you can bring people together and look at their assets as a region, the more successes you’re going to have.

I believe there’s been discussions at the board level about this. I think to get to that level (of cooperation), you’d have to believe or come to an agreement that what’s good for one is good for all, and a rising tide raises all boats.

Q: Are these especially tough times to be in the economic development business?

A: Yes, but it’s that way all over the country. There’s 3,000 ED organizations out there and we’re all doing the same thing. With the downturn in the economy, there’s a more limited number of projects and companies looking to move to a new region. Of course, there’s a limited number of those every year, even in good times.

Q: What’s your view of offering incentives to bring in primary employers?

A: In economic development, it’s a fact of life. You have to make a decision whether you want to play in that game or not.

When I was in Waukesha County, we could be selective. But if you have a good strategy and a plan, we can work with that. There’s different communities here, and one community might say we aren’t going to do much, and another community might say we’ll do whatever we can to attract you. At NCEDC, we’ll work with all of that.

We’ve got a lot of different resources here that make it an attractive community. At the end of the day, incentives go away but as (companies) look at the numbers, they’ll look at what can continue to make them profitable.

Q: What is it you like most about economic development work?

A: It’s two things. Generally, people like myself are always speaking positively about a region and looking for ways to make things happen. It’s a mindset for me.

The other thing is I’m in a position to make a difference in people’s lives. At the end of the day, I can say I helped attract or retain this business or that business.

It’s a good feeling, it really is.”

LOVELAND — The Northern Colorado Economic Development Corp. has a new leader to guide its work in helping to pump up Larimer County’s sagging economy.

Walter Elish, who admits to being in his “mid-50s,” began his duties with NCEDC on Oct. 10 after spending the last six years as president and CEO of the Aroostook Partnership for Progress in Caribou, Maine.

Following is a Q&A with Elish shortly after he began his new position:

Q: Is it going to be a big challenge to come to an area that’s much different from Maine and with a much bigger population?

A: It’s not a challenge…

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