County trying hand at economic development
BYLINE: Margie Wood, The Pueblo Chieftain, Colo.
Feb. 28--There are a lot of economic development efforts in Pueblo and the region, so Aimee Tihonovich is doing a great deal of research and networking as she sets Pueblo County's own effort in motion.
Tihonovich reported to county commissioners last week in a brainstorming session about her job. Formerly the county's budget director, she was asked last summer to take on the economic development office and has been working full time on that job only since the first of the year.
She doesn't want to compete with other agencies such as Pueblo Economic Development Corp. or the Southern Colorado Economic Development District, and she doesn't want to duplicate efforts of the chambers of commerce or the Destination Pueblo group that promotes tourism.
But one niche she sees for herself is assisting companies with job retention, she said.
The Colorado economic development office is encouraging local governments to get involved with a program called Synchronous Prime. Tihonovich described it as a "giant database that has information about local businesses and establishes a business relationship with them."
"It has an interview program to identify problems that businesses are having and resources that are available to help them," she said. "I think that's one place where we're not doing a great job -- helping businesses stay viable so that those jobs remain in the community."
Another intriguing idea is "angel networks" linking small businesses with investors. "The idea is to identify the wealth in your community and recruit assistance for startup companies," Tihonovich said.
Commissioners said both ideas are worth pursuing, and encouraged Tihonovich to continue networking. In particular, Commissioner Anthony Nunez urged her to become more visible at chamber of commerce functions.
Commissioner Jeff Chostner said he wants the board to consider extending the city's half-cent sales tax for economic development to the rest of the county.
"My sense is that there is a desire in the community to do that, but I don't know what hurdles there may be," Chostner added.
He suggested Tihonovich contact Parkview and St. Mary-Corwin hospitals, saying that both have interests in job creation.
Commissioner Loretta Kennedy said she would be amenable to matching state grants for economic development.
"We've had them in the past and passed the money on to PEDCo," Tihonovich said. "But I think this year we would want to keep the money to build our own marketing effort."
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