Waldau to leave Boulder Chamber post for FNBO

BOULDER — Corine Waldau will leave her post as senior director of economic vitality at the Boulder Chamber on Nov. 14 after 8½ years in that role, the chamber has announced.

Waldau told BizWest on Thursday that she will begin her new role as community relationship manager for First National Bank of Omaha in the Boulder-Broomfield market on Nov. 28.

Waldau, who joined the nonprofit chamber in 2014, “has a unique ability to grasp the big picture while keeping an eye on a large number of details,” said Scott Sternberg, executive director of the Boulder Economic Council and the chamber’s associate vice president for economic vitality. “Her insight and professionalism helped steward the Boulder Economic Council through arguably one of the most challenging economic periods in history. She pioneered new and creative ways to continuously deliver value to our many members, investors, and community partners, which well-positions the Boulder Chamber and BEC team to carry forward her legacy of action and positive impact.

“She’s been a highly visible member of the community,” he said, “especially during the pandemic.”

The key to her work during the COVID-19 crisis, Waldau told BizWest, “was about the community coming together and about us playing any role we could play in keeping the economy strong. My job was providing answers, being a little bit of calm during the chaos, and being the lifeline for information for our businesses.”

In early 2020, said John Tayer, the chamber’s president and CEO, “Corine essentially became the integrated voice of both the government and nonprofit response to business needs as the lockdowns and imposed regulations delivered crushing blows to their operations.

“Through countless webinars, coordinated communication, virtual networking sessions and direct support, Corine served as the authoritative source of fact-based information that helped our local businesses make informed decisions.”

Waldau was honored last year for her work during the pandemic with the George Karakehian Community Service Award, presented by the Downtown Boulder Partnership, as well as the Longmont Chamber’s Jubilee Award.

Waldau’s work at the chamber included steering economic development, research, events, communications and investor relations. She spearheaded the implementation of a wide range of workforce-development programs and services in the region, working to create a foundation for future projects in areas such as career exploration, work-based learning, skills-based hiring and training, and employee recruitment and retention.

Her fondest memory of her time with the chamber, she said, will be “the work we’ve done in workforce development to break the mold in what a chamber does in that area.

“I will be very proud of the role we played in moving forward key community-wide initiatives in our economy,” she said. From being the first chamber to be an intermediary sponsor of apprenticeships to convening sector partnerships, and to being a statewide leader in skills-based hiring, we have moved the needle in a key area of our economy — talent — on behalf of the regional business community.”

In her final weeks at the chamber, Waldau will assist with execution of the Boulder Chamber’s 2022 Boulder Economic Summit, which will be held from 7:30 a.m. until noon on Nov. 14, her final day on the job, in the Glenn Miller Ballroom at the University of Colorado Boulder’s University Memorial Center, 1669 Euclid Ave.

Before coming to the Boulder Chamber, Waldau was alliance manager for the Public Health Alliance of Colorado, and also had worked for the American Water Works Association, Metro Denver Dental Association and the Aurora Economic Development Council. She holds a master’s degree in public administration from the University of Colorado Denver and a bachelor’s in economics and political science from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.

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