2022 Annual Summit Recap & Report

The Fort Collins Area Chamber of Commerce hosted the 2022 Northern Colorado Prospers 2.0 Summit on December 12, 2022 at the Harmony Club.

NCP investors, supporters and partners came together to celebrate the success of year one of NCP 2.0.   With all in attendance, the Chamber has been able to achieve results on key issues that are important to the economy and livability of the region.

Investments in NCP 2.0 is helping reignite and rebuild our economy.  Investor  participation is helping us ramp up efforts to attract, retain and align talent, and facilitating new work in the more intentional advance of a business-friendly environment.  The NCP effort served as a champion for the full funding and widening of North I-25 to three lanes from Fort Collins to Longmont by 2025.

The Chamber is excited about the next three years with NCP 2.0!

Resources:

2022 NCP 2.0 Annual Report

Business Leaders Join Northern Colorado Prospers to Launch Campaign Enhancing Northern Colorado Business

On Wednesday, 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 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 state-wide 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 org, a one-stop shop designed to help business grow their 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.

“This work would not be possible without the strong support from our current NCP investors. We sincerely appreciate their investment in the campaign and commitment to our region,” said Hutchison.

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 ahollywood@gopower10.com or visit NorthernColoradoProspers.com/NCP-2-0.

Northern Colorado Prospers Quarterly Recap

The Fort Collins Area Chamber of Commerce hosted the Northern Colorado Prospers (NCP) Quarterly Update during the morning of February 16, 2021.

The Chamber continues to present these so investors can receive thorough updates on the four goals of the Northern Colorado Prospers initiative.

During the presentation, Chamber President & CEO Ann Hutchison talked about the strong pivot made to ensure we are supporting business during these challenging times – and are still focused on our five-year initiative. Ann walked through the four goals and showcased key successes, while also acknowledging changes that have been made to our program of work in light of the pandemic, including:

  • A strong strategy for Fix North I-25 for the 2021 Legislative Session
  • Talent 2.0 is now much more complicated: talent recruitment and dislocated workers
  • Bold Voice of Business has allowed us to support COVID-19 response and recovery work
  • Business Retention and Expansion has kept us in contact with business, especially primary employers

If you were unable to join us or would like to review the content again, below are the resources from the presentation:

Quarterly Report – Q1 February 2021

PowerPoint Presentation

Recorded Online Presentation

BIG PROGRESS ON NORTHERN COLORADO PROSPERS

NCP July 2020 Quarterly Recap

The Fort Collins Area Chamber of Commerce hosted the Northern Colorado Prospers (NCP) Quarterly Update during the morning of July 15, 2020.

The Chamber continues to present these live updates so investors can receive thorough updates on the four goals of the Northern Colorado Prospers initiative.

During the presentation, David May and Ann Hutchison talked about the progress that has been made in 2020 and the hard pivot to respond to COVID-19 including:

  • Retaining funds for Fix North I-25
  • Talent 2.0 is now much more complicated with talent recruitment and dislocated workers
  • Bold Voice of Business has allowed us to provide COVID-19 response and recovery work
  • Business Retention and Expansion has kept us in contact with business, especially primary employers

If you were unable to join us or would like to review the content again, below are the resources from the presentation:

2019/20 Annual Report and 2020 Quarterly

PowerPoint Presentation

Recorded Online Presentation

Need Your Input

If you did not attend the presentation, we would appreciate your feedback about how your business is doing during these times. Please complete the 2 minute survey HERE.

The next NCP update webinar is scheduled for October 21. Please also watch your email for an invite to the Virtual Talent Summit to be held in September.

As always, please contact David (davidmay@fcchamber.org) or Kim (kmedina@fcchamber.org) if you would like to meet to discuss NCP, the goals and where we are headed.

NCP February 2020 LIVE Online Recap

The Fort Collins Area Chamber of Commerce hosted the Northern Colorado Prospers (NCP) LIVE Online Update during the morning of February 19, 2020.

The Chamber continues to present these live updates so investors can receive thorough updates on the four goals of the Northern Colorado Prospers initiative and in an efficient way by using Zoom web conferencing.

During the presentation, David May, talked about the current transportation advocacy efforts during the Legislative session, the marketing and social media campaigns to market WorkInNorthernColorado.com, the work initiated to address housing as a barrier to talent development and how the results of the 2019 primary employer interviews will be reported.

If you were unable to join us or would like to review the content again, below are the resources from the presentation:

The next NCP event is the Annual Summit to be held on April 15 at the Embassy Suites in Loveland. Following this event, the annual Talent Summit will convene. We encourage investors to attend both events. Additional details will be released soon.

As always, please contact David (davidmay@fcchamber.org) or Kim (kmedina@fcchamber.org) if you would like to meet to discuss NCP, the goals and where we are headed.

Northern Colorado Prospers (NCP) is a five-year 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.