I am pleased to inform you that the Grand Junction Area Chamber of Commerce accepted the:
- International Economic Development Council Excellence in Economic Development
Silver Award recipient for the Economic Development Week Campaign – Economic Development Week, Population 25,000 – 200,000 - International Economic Development Council Excellence in Economic Development
Silver Award recipient for the Regionalism & Cross-Border Collaboration, Population 25,000 – 200,000
C.J. Rhyne, our Business Retention & Expansion Specialist, accepted the awards at the awards ceremony on Tuesday, September 27th during the 2016 IEDC Annual Conference in Cleveland, Ohio.
The Grand Junction Area ED Partnership was finalized in an MOU during ED week. The three organization partnership is comprised of The Grand Junction Area Chamber of Commerce, The Grand Junction Business Incubator and Grand Junction Economic Partnership. During ED Week in May, an extremely successful campaign was launched to let the businesses and community at large know what the partnership has done and will continue to do for our community. The campaign included videos of affected businesses highlighting the efforts of the ED Partnership, an appreciation barbeque, a joint presentation to the elected officials from the City and County and a great billboard letting businesses know we are “In YOUR Corner.” The week was also highlighted by a video of the Mayor of Grand Junction posted on Facebook being shared by many including the IEDC on their Facebook page, as well as, a visit from Governor Hickenlooper (CO-D) to recognize the Western Slope of Colorado as, “an anchor in the state’s efforts to become a leader in the nation.”
The collaboration in regionalism was formed between the Grand Junction Area ED Partnership for the betterment of the area as a whole. Our “valley” is comprised of the cities of Grand Junction, Fruita and Palisade. The goal of the collaboration is to show how we are positively affecting our community. In addition to the 76 active businesses looking to relocate to the area, 16 manufacturing firms were contacted and are expected to increase their respective workforces by a total of 350 jobs in the next three years. Many of these businesses are taking advantage of financial tax incentives offered by the County and State.
This joint “task force” of business leaders, Entrepreneurs, local government officials and organizations, is the backbone of the retention, expansion and recruitment of businesses in our area.
Click here to download full version of the Grand Junction Area Chamber of Commerce October 2016 Newsletter.