New Economic Development Collaborative to focus on attracting primary employers
Posted on September 27, 2022 2022Economic FoundationsNews and Events
Turn on the news, and you can’t escape varying national economic predictions as we head into the final earnings quarter of 2022. But in Douglas County, economic development leaders aren’t hedging bets or making predictions. They’re working together to ensure a strong economic foundation.
Douglas County’s new Economic Development Collaborative was memorialized Monday night with a ceremonial signing of a Memorandum of Understanding by all seven partner agencies at the Cherokee Ranch and Castle in Sedalia.
The goal of this new collaborative is to attract and retain primary employers – those businesses that produce goods and services for a statewide, national, or international market, resulting in new dollars to fuel the local economy. The Collaborative will actively engage and educate regional and national site selectors, brokers, developers, and business leaders to promote the economic vitality of Douglas County and local business opportunities.
The Collaborative includes the Town of Castle Rock, the City of Castle Pines, the City of Lone Tree, Douglas County, Highlands Ranch Metro District, the Town of Larkspur, and the Town of Parker. The Collaborative board – comprised of one elected representative of each entity – will meet quarterly to guide programs and make recommendations to the Board of Douglas County Commissioners.
A more expansive Advisory Committee will implement the Collaborative’s programs. In addition to staff from the Collaborative’s local governments, the Advisory Committee will include staff from the Douglas County School District, Castle Rock Economic Development Corporation, Douglas County Libraries, Denver South, and Northwest Douglas County Chamber and Economic Development Corporation and other subject matter experts.
The participating jurisdictions and organizations have informally been working together for more than a decade as a subcommittee of the 20-year-old Partnership of Douglas County Governments. The Collaborative formalizes this collaboration. Read the MOU.
In Douglas County, jobs were up 2.2% in 2021 for a total of 132,560 jobs. Active business also increased with establishments growing 8.8% in 2021 for a total of 14,268 businesses in Douglas County. Read the Douglas County Economic Profile.
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