Estes Park EDC Community Leaders Breakfast Has Record Turnout
Nearly 100 community leaders attended the recent annual Estes Park EDC Community Leaders Breakfast. The breakfast was held at Marys Lake Lodge on November 3. The purpose of the breakfast meeting was to energize and inform community leaders about economic opportunities and challenges in our region.
Estes Park EDC Board Chair Jim Pickering welcomed the group, and participants received a copy of the 2017 Estes Park EDC Community Report, as well as copies of Jim Pickering’s two recent columns entitled “Community Impact—a Progress Report.”
“If you are here this morning, it is because you are a community leader who shares a commitment to bettering our community,” said Jon Nicholas, President/CEO of Estes Park EDC. Nicholas recalled the sense of common purpose that arose after the flood, describing the example of the Mountain Strong fundraising campaign to help Crossroads Ministry serve those displaced by the flood. “Many of you in the room just wanted an indoor toilet at that point,” said Nicholas. “Estes Park EDC was focusing on the business recovery.”
Estes Park EDC helped local businesses obtain Recover Colorado business recovery grants totaling over $2.1 million through June 2016 by retaining a local, full-time Business Recovery Coordinator to partner with Larimer SBDC. Those grants were associated with 283 full-time and 449 part-time jobs centered on the Estes Valley region.
In 2017, Estes Park EDC anticipates focusing more resources and time to address barriers to workforce housing, expansion of programs and services for entrepreneurs through a relationship with the Innosphere in Fort Collins, and increased business retention & expansion activities. Estes Park EDC will also continue to support the Town’s progress on addressing high-speed affordable broadband services for the Estes region.
Estes Park EDC thanks all those who came out for the Community Leaders breakfast. It’s always good to see such a diverse group of people from every spectrum of Estes Park come together in a spirit of solidarity for the betterment of our community.