Public-private partnerships strengthen regional economic development

By Sarah Hach, contributing writer

In the global economy, public-private partnerships are becoming increasingly important for regional economic-development efforts to ensure a strong, healthy, and diversified economy. In Northern Colorado, we are beginning to see the economic and societal benefits of collaboration between Colorado State University and the Northern Colorado Economic Development Corporation.

The partnership groundwork was laid two years ago when CSU President Larry Edward Penley took a visionary step to create CSU’s Office of Economic Development.

Win-win partnership

The Northern Colorado Economic Development Corporation saw this move as an opportunity to collaborate more closely with the region’s largest primary employer to address a gap in its own service delivery: the provision of critical third-party, authenticated, economic-development research to strengthen the regional economy.

The partnership centered on the premise that true economic-development value is realized when research and analysis are translated to informed decisions by policymakers and the business community.

The growing partnership resulted in the joint hiring of Northern Colorado’s first regional economist, Martin Shields, in 2006. Shields has since produced research that details the economics of two key regional industry clusters – healthcare and clean energy. (Editor’s note: Shields is also a regular contributor to Competitive Edge; watch for his next article in an upcoming issue.)

Regional economic summit

The flagship event for the partnership was the inaugural Colorado State University Regional Economic Summit and Forecast, held in October. More than 300 industry leaders, policymakers, economic development officials, and educators from Larimer and Weld counties attended the event.

President Penley opened the summit detailing how strong public-private partnerships have affected Northern Colorado's regional job growth, which has outpaced the state and national economies.

Dr. Shields provided a 2008 forecast for the region and announced that nearly 4,000 new net jobs could be added in Larimer and Weld counties in 2008 with growth rates varying across industries.

Summit’s healthcare and clean-energy focus

Two panels focused on the importance of the healthcare and clean-energy industry to the Northern Colorado economy.

Healthcare panelists Rulon Stacey, president and CEO of Poudre Valley Health System; Rick Sutton, CEO of McKee Medical Center; and Mark Wallace, commissioner for the State of Colorado Blue Ribbon Commission for Healthcare Reform (which unveiled preliminary findings that will be presented to Gov. Ritter in January 2008), discussed current and future trends in healthcare.

A panel of clean-energy experts discussed future workforce needs that will be critical to success of this cluster. Kevin P. Cory, manager of People and Culture for Vestas Blades America, and Pascal Noronha, president and CEO for AVA Solar, discussed their plans to hire 400-500 employees during the next year.

The economics of regionalism and a presentation on the critical role of Metro Denver Economic Development – which supports a regional collaboration that not only works but is necessary for Colorado’s success and competitiveness on the national and global scene – concluded the summit.

Partnership strengths

CSU and NCEDC are committed to strengthening this partnership to retain and expand regional primary employers, encourage and expedite technology transfer, support targeted industry clusters and CSU Superclusters, incubate and support entrepreneurs, provide timely economic development research, and collaborate on economic development-oriented programs in the region.

CSU’s Office of Economic Development invites you to join Northern Colorado’s community partners to help solve the economic challenges and opportunities of our community and state.

Access the 2008 Larimer/Weld Economic Forecast.

Sarah Hach is the assistant director for the Colorado State University Office of Economic Development. She can be reached at Sarah.Hach@colostate.edu.