Northern Colorado Workforce Symposium set for Sept. 9

GREELEY — Larimer County Economic and Workforce Development, in partnership with the Weld County Workforce Center, will host the 2026 Northern Colorado Workforce Symposium in Greeley next week.

This year’s symposium, from 8 a.m. to 3:30 p.m., Sept. 9 at the Aims Community College Welcome Center, 4901 W. 20th St., is designed to move beyond discussion of workforce challenges and provide employers with practical strategies, tools and ideas they can put to work in their organizations.

Keynote speaker for the symposium will be Edgar Papke, a leadership and organizational-development expert, author of “True Alignment and The Elephant in the Boardroom,” and co-author of “Innovation by Design.”

As a management consultant and leadership coach with more than 35 years of experience, Papke’s address, “Culture by Design: Leading with Intention and Alignment in an Era of Shifting Expectations,” will explore why disengagement, poor retention and underperformance are ultimately alignment problems. He will share practical approaches for building a workplace culture that delivers trust, engagement and performance.

Throughout the day, attendees will participate in sessions addressing some of the most significant workforce issues facing Northern Colorado employers, including talent attraction and retention, leadership and workplace culture, artificial intelligence in the workplace, and innovative approaches to building talent pipelines.

“Our employers tell us every day that finding, developing and keeping great people is one of their biggest challenges,” Janine Ledingham, associate director of Larimer County Economic and Workforce Development, said in a prepared statement. “The Workforce Symposium is about bringing our business community together to learn from one another, hear new ideas and walk away with practical strategies they can actually use. We’ve worked hard to create a day that is engaging, relevant and worth stepping away from the office for.”

The symposium will also highlight the importance of regional collaboration among employers, workforce development, education and economic development partners in addressing Northern Colorado’s short- and long-term talent needs.

The 2026 symposium is made possible by “champion sponsors” High Plains Library District, Aims Community College Corporate Solutions and Front Range Community College. “Leader sponsors” are the Rocky Mountain Workforce Development Association and Chevron, and “partner sponsors” are Connect for Health Colorado, CHFA, the City of Fort Collins, the Fort Collins Area Chamber of Commerce, the Greeley Area Chamber of Commerce and Wings Credit Union.

Registration can be made online at larimer.gov/ewd/symposium.

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