Yesterday, the Metro Denver Economic Development Corporation (Metro Denver EDC) celebrated Metro Denver’s role in leading the “Regionalism Revolution” at its 12th Annual Meeting and Awards Luncheon at the Denver Center for the Performing Arts.
Following the oil and real estate bust in the early 1980s, Metro Denver’s economic development leaders determined that the region’s best chance for economic recovery would come from working as a team rather than poaching companies from one local community to another.
“Those visionary leaders developed the concept of regionalism—all economic development groups working together under a Code of Ethics to market the region first and individual communities second—which has been at work in Metro Denver since 1986,” said Maja Rosenquist, vice president and general manager of Mortenson Construction, and Co-Chair of the Metro Denver EDC’s Executive Committee.
Thirty years ago regionalism was revolutionary, but today, the regional model developed right here in Metro Denver, has been adopted by many other metropolitan areas of the country.
In their 2014 book The Metropolitan Revolution, Bruce Katz and Jennifer Bradley of the Brookings Institution dedicated an entire chapter to how Metro Denver “innovated” regional cooperation three decades ago. “At this time, and even today, this was a radically different approach to attracting jobs and businesses.”
The Metro Denver EDC’s CEO Tom Clark is one of the economic development leaders that devised the regional cooperation concept in economic development back in the 1980s and has seen its success first hand.
He notes that without regional cooperation, none of the region’s biggest accomplishments—constructing Denver International Airport and Fastracks, funding arts and culture, and diversifying our economy—would have been possible.
“Today is not only about our economy, but about our community,” said Clark, “We celebrate a 30-year impulse that has held us together in tough times, kept our eyes on the horizon, built great infrastructure, and together tackled our regional problems time and time again.
The Metro Denver EDC’s regional initiatives to expand the area economy are funded by its investors and supported by its economic development partners. Leadership from the organization’s Executive Committee and Board of Governors presented several awards at the luncheon to highlight extraordinary efforts in regional cooperation and recognize investment in the region’s economy:
- The Metropolitan Cooperation Award honored seven communities: Adams County, the City of Aurora, the City of Brighton, Commerce City, the City and County of Denver and Denver International Airport, the City of Federal Heights, the City of Thornton, and the many individuals whose cooperative efforts over two and a half years led to the updated Intergovernmental Agreement pertaining to development around Denver International Airport and the successful 1A for DIA campaign in November.
- The Special Recognition Award touted economic development leaders that together, developed the concept of local communities working together rather than competing for company expansions 30 years ago. Individual awards were presented to Don Dunshee, Jack Keever, Marilee Utter, Brian Vogt, and Dolores Wilson. Posthumous recognition went to Larry Greene, Jane Davey, and Greg Whitney.
- The Chairs’ Award celebrated a unique facet of regionalism that is thriving in Metro Denver—political cooperation. The Metro Mayors Caucus—including 41 area mayors—was lauded for uniting to solve the region’s most pressing issues, such as transportation funding, smart growth, affordable housing, and homelessness.
- The Deal of the Year Award for significant economic impact in the region through new job creation and capital investment went to United Airlines for choosing Denver as the location for its consolidated and expanded Flight Training Center. The company will invest $40 million to renovate its existing site in Stapleton and add 225 new, high-paying jobs when the facility is fully operational in 2017.
Janet Fritz is the senior director of marketing and technology for the Metro Denver Economic Development Corporation.
This report was originally published to the Metro Denver Economic Development Corporation’s website, you can view the full article here.