Northern Colorado Economic Alliance leader departs

LOVELAND — Northern Colorado Economic Alliance CEO Andy Montgomery left his position with the organization at the end of 2018, and the alliance has yet to announce his replacement.

Montgomery, who led the Loveland-based economic-development group for about three years, said he is in the process of trying to raise capital for a new financial-services technology venture.

Scott Ehrlich, chair of the NCEA’s board of directors, said Monday that the group was not yet ready to make announcement regarding Montgomery’s successor. But, he said, an announcement is likely in the very near future.

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Montgomery said he suspects that announcement would come this week.  

The alliance — briefly rebranded as OneNoco — was founded in 2016, and Montgomery served as its first chief executive. BizWest first reported Montgomery’s plans to leave NCEA in November.

“We had a big challenge in starting a new economic-development organization — we were really starting from scratch,” he said. “… I wish we would have had a bigger budget, but that’s only possible when you’re able to create economies of scale and critical mass.”

During Montgomery’s tenure, which ended Dec. 31, NCEA explored the possibility of a merger with Greeley-based Upstate Colorado Economic Development at helping the groups achieve that regional scale.

Competing visions and lack of agreement on the organization structure of the combined Northern Colorado economic-development group resulted in the collapse of the merger talks in April.

After his departure from NCEA, Montgomery stressed the continued need for regional economic-development cooperation in Northern Colorado.

“We need to align the coalition of the willing and build bridges so the region can finally speak with one voice,” he said. “It’s such a great area with so much to offer, we just need to avoid stepping on each other’s toes.”