The 31st annual Routt County Economic Summit next week will explore a number of topics that will impact the Northwest Colorado economic landscape including transportation and banking, as well as the dynamics shaping the American West.
“It is such a long-running program, and it’s just a testament to this community’s desire and interest to look at major topics and themes and look over the horizon to see what’s coming and understand the landscape,” John Bristol, executive director of the Routt County Economic Development Partnership, said of the event.
This year’s summit will take place 8 a.m.-3:30 p.m. May 9 and is organized by the Steamboat Springs Chamber, Routt County Economic Development Partnership and Colorado Mountain College.
The event brings together diverse stakeholders to explore the local and regional economic landscape.
Tickets are $97.80 for chamber members and $151.36 for non-members and can be found at SteamboatChamber.com.
This year’s summit features six sessions, including: “Economic Resiliency: What Should We Expect in the Short-Term?” hosted by Brian Lewandowski; “Banking on the Future: Navigating Banking, Lending and Financial Planning in 2025” with panelists Adonna Allen, PJ Wharton, Wade Gebhardt and Jonathan Lay; and “Transportation: Planes, Trains and Automobiles.”
“It’s just a community conversation that will focus in on different modes or transportation,” Bristol said of the “Planes, Trains and Automobiles” discussion. “We are having this wide group of people to talk about planes, trains and automobiles. It presents a wider picture, a broader view of it as a larger system.”
Bristol said he expects the transportation discussion to draw a lot of interest considering the importance of transportation in Northwest Colorado.
Panelists will include Routt County Commissioner Sonja Macys, Yampa Valley Regional Airport Manager Kevin Booth, Steamboat Ski & Resort Corporation Director of Airline Programs Janet Fischer and transportation consultant Bill Ray, who is guiding formation of the Yampa Valley’s proposed Regional Transportation Authority.
There will also be a legislative update by speaker Jennifer Cassell and Mick Ireland, who will present “Insights from Aspen.”
Bristol also expects Justin Farrell, author of “Billionaire Wilderness: The Ultra-Wealthy and the Remaking of the American West,” to get a lot of attention at this year’s summit.
“He grew up in Wyoming and he is a professor at Yale,” Bristol said. “He wrote a really interesting book … really looking at the dynamic shaping the American West, and socioeconomic diversity and wealth and development and growth and all of that. It’s an extreme example, but it’s also an example to look at and understand what lessons we could learn as we are looking at how we retain our culture, our heritage and socioeconomically diverse communities.”
The summit begins at 8 a.m. at Colorado Mountain College with registration, coffee and networking.
Events will then unfold inside the Allbright Auditorium with opening remarks and two sessions followed by a break. At 10:45 a.m., the transportation session will take place. At 11:30 a.m., participants will have brunch followed by the legislative update. The afternoon slate includes “Insights from Aspen” and “Billionaire Wilderness” before the day wraps up with closing remarks.
“I can’t tell you how many times after that economic summit happens that I go to an event, or I go to a meeting, and somebody will reference topics from the economic summit,” Bristol said. “It really helps shape conversations across the valley, and that is just fascinating to watch.”
