Ms. Brough goes to Washington

Kelly Brough //April 6, 2012//

Ms. Brough goes to Washington

Kelly Brough //April 6, 2012//

On Friday the 16th, a delegation of 70 metro Denver business leaders joined Denver Mayor Michael Hancock, Lakewood Mayor Bob Murphy and former mayors Wellington Webb and Bill Vidal on a trip to our nation’s capital to talk jobs. I was privileged to be in such great company and represent the business community along with leaders from Wells Fargo, Western Union, Oakwood Homes, Frontier Airlines, Arrow Electronics and others.

We met with a number of federal officials including the Under Secretary of Commerce for Economic Affairs, Dr. Rebecca Blank, and Deputy Secretary for the U.S. Department of Transportation John Porcari to discuss job creation, innovation and global competitiveness.

The discussions in Washington provided a strong link to the work we do here at the Chamber:

Our Metro Denver Economic Development Corporation set out in 2004 with a goal to create and attract 100,000 jobs by 2008, a goal it reached by mid-2007. The recession took away many jobs created during that time and so, today, the Metro Denver EDC is working harder than ever to attract new companies and jobs to Colorado.

The organization works to market metro Denver to site selectors and other decision-makers nationally and internationally with a focus on eight industry specialties – aerospace, aviation, bioscience, broadcasting and telecom, energy, financial services, healthcare and wellness, and IT–software. Some of these clusters are showing very strong job growth for Colorado. You can track recent relocation and expansion announcements on the website.

The Colorado Competitive Council (C3) was created by the Chamber in 2005 to advocate for sound policies that encourage growth of key industries and the development of a positive business climate in Colorado. Currently, 31 investors and 58 steering committee members that represent businesses, associations and chambers of commerce statewide are continuing that mission.

The Colorado business roundtable in Washington, D.C., last week highlighted some truths that we at the Chamber live and breathe every day: national and international competitiveness is key for economic recovery and job creation; business and community leaders must come together to work toward the common goal of economic development; and elected leaders can support economic recovery through business-friendly legislation and thoughtful regulation.

It was as clear in D.C. as it is here at home – Colorado’s business and community leaders share a passion for our state and we all want to ensure its continued success.
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