Economic Council launches new recruitment campaign

LONGMONT — It’s time to spend money to make money in order to save Longmont’s economy.

That’s the new aggressive stance of the Longmont Area Economic Council (LAEC), which is gearing up to fight today’s harsh economic realities. The council has launched a new business recruitment effort and is looking for more money to fund new ways to enhance Longmont’s visibility and viability as a destination for new companies.

?We’re trying to raise our private-sector resources by $50,000,? confirmed John Cody, president of the LAEC, which launched the program to its membership at an investor breakfast on Nov. 7. The campaign will officially begin on Jan. 1.

?We recognize that virtually all of our job growth has come from new businesses over the past 10 years,? Cody said. In fact, net job growth from new industry increased nearly 60 percent over the last five years.

?At the same time, with the slowing economy and some of the other things going on, our lead generation for new business has dropped substantially. We’ve been doing business recruitment pretty consistently, but we’re boosting our efforts extensively to reach out to more businesses that are looking to move, expand or relocate,? Cody said.

The evidence of Longmont’s economic dilemma is formidable. The LAEC’s research indicates that the city has lost more than 2,500 primary jobs, $150 million in lost wages, and $29 million in taxable transactions since the year 2000. Combined with 2.3 million square feet of vacant office space and a drop in the generation of new business leads of more than 50 percent, these facts have made Longmont’s business leaders justifiably nervous.

?The economic conditions have changed rather significantly over the past 12 to 18 months. We’re trying to be more proactive,? said Craig Ockers, chair of LAEC’s membership committee and president of the First National Bank of Longmont. The organization’s board began discussing the potential of fund raising late last year and formalized a proposal at its retreat in May.

?In the ?90s, I think a lot of these things happened on their own,? Ockers explained. ?There was quite a bit more expansion and this area has always been deemed to be desirable. It wasn’t that we didn’t recruit, but we feel like we need to step up our efforts to get out and try to bring some jobs back and help companies looking to expand.?

Raising $50,000 in a down economy, however, isn’t going to be easy. ?I think one of our challenges is just to get private investment at a higher level in supporting our economic development program. We have good support, but we would like to create more support and more broad-based support,? Ockers said. Some segments of the community the LAEC will target include non-traditional industries such as car dealers as well as homebuilders and other construction firms.

While Cody recognizes the challenges inherent in this type of fund raising, he remains confident in Longmont’s self-commitment.

?I would be dumb if I didn’t think it was going to be challenging,? Cody admitted. ?However, Longmont has demonstrated itself as a community that is willing to step up when the need is presented. I think we have made a compelling case. We’ve already had some people step forward and say that they are willing to help us out by giving more.?

The LAEC will dedicate the additional funds exclusively to further its marketing efforts. The majority of the funds will be spent on prospect development, additional advertising and event sponsorships.

Specific actions will include hiring a consultant to make contact with Silicon Valley prospects, bringing those prospects to Longmont, and continued quarterly supplements in The Boulder County Business Report. A small percentage of funds also will be dedicated to supplementary items such as marketing materials, postage, and participation in specific trade shows.

?Our goal is that we will see more payroll, more activity and because of that, more money in the community,? Cody said of the program’s ultimate mission. Other stated objectives include bringing annual job creation levels back to the 10-year average, filling the existing vacant space in the community and generating more local jobs for residents of Longmont.

?We feel that this area is certainly very desirable. The problem in these economic times is that there is enormous competition for companies that are considering moving, relocating or expanding,? Ockers said.

The LAEC has found that Boulder and Silicon Valley have been the greatest contributors of new companies outside of Longmont and intends to continue to focus on advanced-technology companies. While advanced technology is the core of the local economy, however, contributions to the business development program should benefit all of the players involved.

?Everybody benefits from strong economic times, whether you’re a retailer or any other business. It’s very broad-based,? Ockers said. ?We think it’s a good case to make. This is one organization where I think your investment will help build the future.?

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