In rural communities such as ours, it takes everyone rowing in the same direction to accomplish significant tasks, which alone one person may not be able to pull off. Community and Economic Development is conducted by community members, all of us. It is a process where local people can not only create more jobs, income and infrastructure, but also help with things like improving networks, using community assets in new ways and even changing attitudes and thinking differently about how problems are solved.
Just as community development consists of many different aspects, economic development garners different facets of business and businesses. Our existing business retention and expansion efforts are robust. We have made over 265 visits since the programs’ inception in 2nd quarter 2016, helped retain many local businesses, and assisted countless companies with shipping, workforce and regulatory issues. We have a plethora of options to help businesses. Everywhere from just listening and giving a bit of advice to jumping in to help with workforce issues, access to capital and even business personal property tax savings. We use all of our economic development partners to help along the way, because we do not care who gets the credit. We are here to continually develop a community and assist the businesses in it.
We need help from each business in Colorado’s Grand Valley to help us continually develop our community. Our businesses are the backbone of our economy and each one is needed and vital. Let us know what your ideas are, what you need from the community, what you would like to see done differently or better. Our Retention / Expansion Specialist, C.J. Rhyne, wants to hear from you and your business. He wants to develop our community, and he needs your help. Please contact him at 970-263-2917 or cj@gjchamber.org to set up a time to talk with you.
Community development improves the situation of a community, not just economically, but also as a strong functioning community in itself. – Jim Cavaye – Cavaye Community Development
