Chaffee County Economic Development Corporation

The CCEDC continues to be a vital community leader of cross-sector collaboration in support of our shared economic development priorities. As we have continued to mature in our fourth year under current leadership, we are pleased to share that the primary elements of our Strategic Plan continue to be relevant and productive:Entrepreneurial Support - Diversifying the local economy, growing from within, raising county-wide income, creating net new year-round jobs for local residents. Talent Pipeline - Building the workforce pipeline for public, private, and nonprofit employers in Chaffee County. Leveraging partnerships between employers, local school districts and CMC to create more and better Work Based Learning (WBL) opportunities like internships, apprenticeships, and industry sponsored projects. Public Policy - With support from the Public Policy Committee of the Board of Directors, the EDC represented business community priorities and perspectives in numerous policy interactions within each of our partner jurisdictions and educated the public on key Policy Pillar issues through events and a public education campaign.In each of these primary areas of work, new and exciting opportunities have presented themselves, as noted in the list of key accomplishments included in the pages to follow.Strategy One - Entrepreneurial SupportRecruited a fourth cohort of 10 entrepreneurs/business owners to participate in the Ascent business accelerator.Planned and executed 4th Annual Ascent Launch Event at Steamplant Event Center, to a SOLD-OUT crowd of 200 attendeesDesigned and delivered a 12-week Ascent curriculum, from Feb. 1-April 31, including some of the following instructors:oSumanth Channabasappa, Founder, The CORE, Lean Canvas expertoJon Chang, digital marketing expert, former IBM, Kickstarter, Forbes 30 under 30oKira Spivak, Founder, VenturePack CFO, former TechStars; financing, business modeling, and CPA expertoNathan Lawrence, Founder of Principle Law; former TechStars; legal, fundraising, corporate governance expertPlanned and executed third annual Powder_Pitch @ Monarch Mountain experiential mentoring event. oTwo-day on-mountain mentoring and investing event pairing 20 mentors with 20 cohort companies from 22, 23, 24 and 25 cohorts. oGrew attendee participation in both cohort companies and mentors.Planned and executed Ascent Demo Day closing event at the SteamPlant, featuring pitch presentations, to a curated crowd of Angel Investors, from each participant of the cohort. Ongoing - Recruited and onboarded additional local and statewide business advisors for our Mentor Network: https://drivenbynature.co/mentors/Ongoing - Significantly grew followers on our various social media channels for the EDC and initiative:oLinkedin - https://www.linkedin.com/company/chaffee-county-edc oInstagram - www.instagram.com/drivenbynature.coStrategy Two - Talent PipelineContinued to develop excellent working relationships with local academic partners, including school districts and CMC, for the purpose of creating more and better alignment and collaboration between industry and academia. Strategy Three - Public Policy Advocacy & EducationGrew and activated the sitting Public Policy Committee of the EDC, with monthly participation from leading local business executives: oGwen Allen, Founder, Eakins & Allen ConsultantsoGeorgeanne Craig, SVP, Pure GreensoSusan Dempsey Hughes, Owner/Broker, Pinon Real Estate GroupoDan Niemela, Principal/Hydrogeologist, BBA WateroCasey Martin, Partner, JVAMoJeff Post, Owner, First Colorado Land OfficeoJoe Smith, SVP & Mountain Region President, Collegiate Peaks BankoCarlin Walsh, Founder, Elevation Beer CooEx Officio - Dave Blazer, Chairman, Chaffee County EDC