Enhancing Northern Colorado Business: Northern Colorado Prospers 2.0

In a meeting earlier this month, leading Northern Colorado business and community leaders joined the Fort Collins Area Chamber of Commerce to officially launch Northern Colorado Prospers 2.0 – a  five-year (2022-2026) catalytic initiative for regional economic growth and a $4 million campaign to fund its implementation.

The initiative will build upon the success of Northern Colorado Prospers in the last few years and focus on four specific goals:

• GOAL 1: Reignite and Rebuild our Economy
• GOAL 2: Attract, Retain and Align Talent
• GOAL 3: Finish Widening North I-25 and Improve Key Regional Feeder Roads 
• GOAL 4: Advance Business-Friendly Environment

Campaign Co-Chairs Carrie Baumgart (CEO, Markley Motors), Shawn Osthoff (President, Bank of Colorado), Nicole Staudinger (President, FirstBank), and Kevin Unger (CEO, UCHealth) welcomed guests at the Kickoff event at Canvas Stadium.

Campaign Co-Chair and Board Chair of the Fort Collins Area Chamber of Commerce, Staudinger unveiled details of the plan and announced the campaign’s progress to more than 70 business and community leaders. Fort Collins Area Chamber President Ann Hutchison outlined the initiatives and stressed the importance of strong partnerships. 

“Through the collaborative efforts of our business and community leaders, we are pleased to announce that Northern Colorado Prospers 2.0 has already secured $2.896 million in five-year pledges – an impressive 72 percent of our campaign goal of $4 million.  We are grateful for the support of our early investors and look forward to new investors joining us in the coming weeks,” Staudinger said.

“Northern Colorado Prospers 2.0 builds on our past success and moves the Northern Colorado region forward, ensuring we will be a place where businesses prosper and readily find the talent and resources they need to grow in our community,” Staudinger said. “But to do this, we must tackle our challenges and most pressing problems head on. That’s why it’s so important for the business community to come together and support this Initiative.”

“With this significant investment, we will be able to accelerate business growth and our total economy, take talent attraction and retention to the next level, expand the scope of our transportation goal, and implement a better-resourced, more-proactive effort to ensure a business-friendly operating environment,” Hutchison said. 

At the event, Hutchison also recapped the success of Northern Colorado Prospers in the first half of 2021:

• The Fix North I-25 Business Alliance and their partners have been advocating for a statewide transportation package with the state legislature, dedicated transportation funding through federal opportunities, and encouraging a public-private partnership that would provide critical safety upgrades, improve air quality and create significant investment to complete the North I-25 plan from Fort Collins to Denver.
• With the reopening of the economy, the Chamber and other community partners have been supporting the public launch of Hire Me, Connect My Partner a service designed specifically to assist your partner in finding their next job opportunity when you arrive in Northern Colorado.  We’ve also provided support for the launch of NoCoInspire.org, a one-stop shop designed to help the business grow its own workforce through internships, apprenticeships, and other work-based learning solutions.  The Talent Portal, WorkInNorthernColorado.com continues to see tremendous use with more than 30,000 jobs posted on the site since 2018.
• Northern Colorado Prospers and the Fort Collins Area Chamber continue to work alongside economic developers from across the two-county area to refine the ReIgnite Plan – a two-county economic recovery plan.  A draft plan will be released in the next 30-60 days and provide a framework for relaunching the regional economy by community partners.  Community members can track the economic recovery of the area on the Recovery Tracker.  The tracker includes a set of indicators that represent critical aspects of the Larimer and Weld County economies, are based on data that is accessible in a useable format, and updated frequently with little lag time. 

Atlanta-based POWER 10 has returned to Northern Colorado to manage the 2.0 campaign.  A key partner in helping the Chamber launch Northern Colorado Prospers, they continue to help shape a successful campaign for the Chamber.  Those interested in learning more about the campaign are asked to contact POWER 10 Campaign Director Alex Hollywood at [email protected] or visit NorthernColoradoProspers.com/NCP-2-0.

About Northern Colorado Prospers

Northern Colorado Prospers (NCP) is a five-year (2017-2021) strategic initiative of the Fort Collins Area Chamber of Commerce designed to address four specific challenges facing business in Northern Colorado. Fix North I-25; Align, attract and retain talent; Bold voice of business and Retain and expand existing business. For more information about NCP, call (970) 482-3746 or visit NorthernColoradoProspers.com

About the Fort Collins Area Chamber

The Fort Collins Area Chamber of Commerce is the leading membership-based business association in Northern Colorado, dedicated to helping business succeed. Investing in the Fort Collins Area Chamber of Commerce puts members in contact with more than 1,100 business owners and managers in the market. For more than 100 years, the Fort Collins Area Chamber has helped shape the Fort Collins region into one of the most livable places in America. For more information about the Chamber, call (970) 482-3746 or visit www.FortCollinsChamber.com.