Economic Summit Session Topics

Change Management Keynote: "Leading through Change: Lessons from Steamboat Resort"

Katie Brown & Julie Germond

Leadership through change has never been more important as Steamboat Resort executes Full Steam Ahead, the $220M base area redevelopment and on-mountain improvement project.  Brown & Germond will share:  

• How Steamboat is addressing the changes and ensuring that employees, community, and guests are on board with the efforts while staying true to brand and Steamboat culture
• Change management best practices
• How to manage resistance to change
• Tools & practices you can use to lead through change

Economic Update

Greg Totten

This session will be examining economic and demographic trends in both Routt County and Colorado more generally. 

Two major trends have been shaping what people do for work, how they spend their money, and where they live: the pandemic and demographic change. While the effects of the former have largely played out over the past few years - with some trends perhaps even beginning to reverse course - the latter is taking root much more slowly - with changes that will occur over the coming years and decades. 

This discussion will be focused through the lens of three key areas that are inextricably linked - Jobs, Demographics, and Housing. It will look at both where these trends are showing up in the data of the recent past, what might be emerging in the present, and what the State Demography Office is both forecasting and watching for going into the future. In particular it will examine how demographic trends may impact the economic landscape, especially in terms of the labor force, and some of the issues that might be important to consider in meeting those labor force demands including how to attract, retain, and house talent.

At the Colorado State Demography Office, we constantly like to remind ourselves that "a job is a person and a home is where they sleep at night". This will be an opportunity to not only learn what we mean by that but also for us to share what we see in the data that makes us believe why that idea is so important.

Panel: Green Business

Paul Bony, Ashley Dean, Dan Franz, Andrew Zaback

In this panel, the audience will be introduced to the Yampa Valley Green Business Program (YVGBP) and its role as a Regional Partner of the Colorado Green Business Network (CGBN). You will learn how the program can support local businesses to improve their environmental performance while lowering costs and increasing customer and worker satisfaction. Interested businesses will learn the simple steps of registering their business through the GreenBiz Tracker and will hear from two active Yampa Valley Green Business participants about their experience, lessons learned, and benefits of participation. SavATree is currently in the process of applying for Bronze-level certification and will speak to their initial interest in participation and the application process. Alpine Bank is a Gold-level member and will talk about working up to the Gold-level certification, lessons learned, and benefits of participation.

Childcare Workforce Solutions

Alexis Wolf, Meaghan Franges

This session will provide a current snapshot of early childcare needs in our community, upcoming initiatives including the City/County CDOT Childcare Center Partnership, Early Childhood Workforce Pipeline, Emerging and Expanding Care Grants (including Family Child Care Homes), and a discussion of the new statewide Universal Preschool Program.

Panel: Banking & Lending

Adam Wilson, Cole Hewitt, Adonna Allen

Banking in a resort community requires knowledge and expertise in a variety of different business sectors from location-neutral operations to nonprofits to small niche markets.  Learn how the banks in our community position themselves to keep your money safe while directly supporting the very businesses that make our area economically viable. The panel will cover:

• Local economy
• Keeping money safe, insured, and local
• Current trends – bank failures, regulatory changes & requirements, interest rates
• Privately held vs publicly traded banks in the current economy
• Business lending environment – interest rates, commercial loans, volume

Colorado Legislative Update

Jennifer Cassell

Jennifer will give a general overview of the 2023 legislative session. Included in her presentation will be themes of the session, major policy bills, and a look into the bills that affect economic development and the business climate in the state.