Fisher considers Greeley to be home

Fisher considers Greeley to be home

GREELEY — You could argue Bianca Fisher’s already done enough for downtown Greeley.

Bianca, 32, and her husband, Neil, just bought three downtown buildings, which will keep their world-famous brewery, WeldWerks, in downtown Greeley with much-needed room to grow. But that’s mostly Neil’s thing. She began work at the Downtown Development Authority in 2009, and that work will continue when she will become the executive director on Jan. 1.

She was offered the job years ago by the board, she said, but she and Neil were just starting a family, and she didn’t want to give half of herself to the DDA. She worked as the associate director for seven years as a result, and now her kids are older and ready for her to give — well, most — of herself to the job.

When she first came to Greeley, as a student at the University of Northern Colorado to become a teacher, she’d just spent a year at Pepperdine and grew up in Castle Rock. She crossed into Greeley’s city limits and burst into tears.

“But soon after that, I was in,” Fisher said. “The community here is just so rich. There’s no air of pretension. There’s just something about this place.”

She doesn’t have many changes in mind, or plans, but she does hope to highlight the success stories that made downtown such a fun place to be in the last few years. Fisher is working on her own story as well: She’s taking classes to work toward a master’s degree in public administration at the University of Denver.

“Now it’s time to share our success,” Fisher said.

She’s had other offers, but Fisher politely turned them down, and that’s not just because of the brewery.

“This is home,” Fisher said, “and I want to stay here.”

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