Northern Colorado Workforce Development Partnership Between Weld and Larimer County First in State

In order to best serve the residents and businesses of the northern Colorado region and to ensure the success of common workforce development goals, the Weld County Board of Commissioners, alongside the Larimer County Board of Commissioners, have signed and approved the first regional workforce memorandum of understanding between Employment Services of Weld County (ESWC) and Larimer County Economic & Workforce Development (LCEWD).

For several years, ESWC and LCEWD have been intentionally working toward greater alignment and collaboration as the region grows. To build upon the partnership between LCEWD and ESWC, a Northern Colorado Regional Workforce Development Partnership has been developed outlining strategic regional workforce initiatives.

“Although ESWC has collaborated with Larimer County for workforce events and activities for quite some time, as we continue to grow our partnership, we wanted to have a memorandum of understanding to officially declare our regionalism and collaboration when it comes to serving employers and job seekers of northern Colorado. This official workforce partnership is the first in Colorado. We hope it paves the way for other counties to collaborate if it makes sense for them,” said Karina Amaya-Ragland, ESWC Director.

Larimer Board of County Commissioner Chair Kristin Stephens and staff from LCEWD attended last Wednesday’s meeting to support the agreement. Larimer County signed the partnership at their meeting the day prior on Tuesday.

“This is another way we can connect our communities. We know that a lot of people in both our communities work in one community, live in another and this is a great way for us to start forging those collaborations and relationships —we need to ensure our region is strong,” explained Larimer Commissioner Stephens.

Weld County Commissioner and Commissioner Coordinator of the Weld County Department of Human Services Lori Saine thanked Commissioner Stephens and the LCEWD team for making the drive to Greeley and spoke about the importance of working regionally.

“If we help each other, we can help everyone else. It is important to recognize this is a regional effort and we are stronger together. We are not in competition, but collaboration for our communities and residents,” said Weld County Commissioner Saine.

For more information about ESWC, visit www.eswc.org.