Business

Thank you to the business community for making this year's Business Appreciation Breakfast the best yet! See photos from the event and watch a short video honoring businesses in the community. 

On August 30, 2017, the City of Fort Collins hosted a panel discussion with the community updating progress on the Foothills mall redevelopment.

The new format was an opportunity for members of the public to ask questions about the mall on a variety of topics from retailers to financing.

Participating in the event were:

• Josh Birks, director of the City's Economic Health Office
• John Gaffney, mall general manager for Alberta Development Partners
• Tom Leeson, director, Community Development and Neighborhood Services, City of Fort Collins
• Eric Keselburg, compliance supervisor, City of Fort Collins
• Keith Meyer, owner/president, Ditesco

Watch a video of the event.

The City of Fort Collins Economic Health Office this spring awarded $184,100 in grants supporting a variety of programs that assist the City’s industry cluster strategic objectives.

The City received more than $424,285 in funding requests. Award winners will use the grants to obtain additional grants or to sponsor events and programs.

The Economic Health Office collects mid-year and end of year reports from each organization to monitor the progress of each of these grant recipients. City staffers work directly with clusters to support their initiatives and foster collaboration among cluster organizations.

As part of its Strategic Plan, the City’s Economic Health Office works to support innovation and assist with the retention and expansion of businesses in the community.

See awardees for 2017.

The City of Fort Collins has joined with ACCION Colorado - the largest non-profit, small business lending network in the nation - to bring ACCION to Fort Collins this summer to assist small businesses that may not meet traditional lending requirements.

ACCION’s Denver-based bilingual staff specialize in lending to start-ups, low-to-moderate entrepreneurs and other potentially disadvantaged borrowers who may not “fit in the box” for conventional small business lenders. ACCION has partnered with the City and FVC MESH to provide in-person lending services from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. on June 7 and 21, July 5 and 19 and August 2 and 16 at FVC MESH, 242 Linden St. Read more.

Who are the people in the City's Economic Health Office? Meet them!

From L to R: Shannon Hein, Business Specialist; SeonAh Kendall, Economic Health Manager; Patrick Rowe, Redevelopment Coordinator; Sean Carpenter, Climate Economy Advisor; Emily Wilmsen, Public Relations Coordinator; Rebecca Hicklin, Administrative Assistant; Josh Birks, Economic Health and Redevelopment Director; Victoria Shaw, Senior Financial Analyst; and Katie Ricketts, Economic Health Analyst. Not pictured: Wendy Bricher, Financial Coordinator.  

The City's Economic Health Office supports targeted industry clusters in the community. Clusters include Bioscience, Clean Energy, Water Innovation and Technology and Uniquely Fort Colllins. Additionally, target sectors include manufacturing, health and creative industries. See the most recent report.

In 2014, the City evaluated current workforce and future needs as an essential part of a healthy economy. That effort has grown to a regional level: In 2017, the City will participate in a Talent 2.0 Regional Action Plan to address access, alignment and barriers to developing the first regional workforce action plan. Talent development is a team sport that requires public, private and educational institutions to work collaboratively to be successful. See the presentation from the February 2017 rollout.

City Council on June 2 adopted an upated Economic Health Strategic Plan, which emphasizes more connections to the Social Sustainability and Environmental Services departments and addresses five key themes:

• Community Prosperity: Employment opportunities exist across income and education/skill spectrums
• Grown Our Own: The economic ecosystem fosters the development of new and creative industry
• Place Matters: A balanced built and natural environment
• The Climate Economy: Businesses adapt to climate change by staying in our community and leverage community carbon reduction goals to develop new products and services
• Think Regionally: A region that partners to address economic issues that extend beyond municipal boundaries