We are hosting our Fort Collins Area Chamber Annual Celebration tomorrow night (Wednesday, April 27) at The Ranch in Loveland.  If you haven’t registered yet, please join us!  Registration is live on our website and we would love to have you join us as we recognize the people that have impacted the Chamber and our community over the last year.  As well, it will be a great opportunity to network In Real Life with business and community leaders from across the area!

As we complete final prep for this exciting event, I’m struck by how much we have to be thankful for in our community.  Below are a few shoutouts to people and places that are top of mind this week.

• Thank you to our Chamber Board of Directors, and especially to our Executive Committee, for the leadership that you share with our organization every day. We will be celebrating our 2021 Board Chair Nicole Staudinger at our event tomorrow night. Her thoughtful leadership was key to the success of our organization and to myself last year.  Nicole is the market president for FirstBank.  In addition to sharing her skills with the Chamber, she chaired CSU’s College of Business Global Leadership Council and co-chaired Northern Colorado Prospers, a $4 million, five-year capital campaign to promote and solve regional issues including Interstate 25 expansion, reigniting the economy post pandemics and understanding the region’s talent needs. She has chaired Housing Catalyst, formerly known as the Fort Collins Housing Authority, and worked with Homeward 2020 and Junior Achievement.
• Thank you Colorado State Rams for opening the doors of your athletic programs for the community this last weekend. The Grit Run benefiting Cystic Fibrosis, the Spring Game, the Men’s Basketball End of Year Banquet and more were wonderful opportunities to interact with student-athletes and the CSU community.  As well, all these events were a tremendous display of the leadership of our coaching staffs. CSU coaches are developing and inspiring our future community leaders and doing a great job at it.  If you haven’t checked out the CSU athletic programs lately – you should join me in cheering for these Rams!
• Thank you to the Fort Collins Music Association and Odell Brewing for hosting FoCo MX this last weekend. 300+ Colorado bands were featured at the two-day music festival that celebrated live music in Northern Colorado. What a treat for all of us!
• Thank you to our many retailers and restaurants in the Fort Collins area. We know that you are facing tremendous challenges to stay open and be successful.  Supply chain breakdowns, staffing limitations and a constantly changing regulatory environment aren’t easy things to balance.  Thank you for continuing to provide great experiences and resources for all of us.
• Thank you to the team at Early Childhood Council of Larimer County for joining our Talent Series last week and helping us all learn how to create a family friendly workplace. The Talent Series, curated by our VP of Strategic Initiatives Yvonne Myers, is providing employers with in-depth presentations, hands-on learning, and opportunities to expand knowledge around workforce issues.  You can find resources from our first two series experiences and the opportunity to register for future talent series presentations here:  https://fortcollinschamber.com/2022-talent-series/
• Thank you and welcome to our newest Trustee members of the Chamber: Verizon and Alpine Bank.  Thank you for investing in our organization and seeing the value of Chamber membership.  Your membership allows us to be an unwavering voice for business as we build community.
• Thank you to my colleagues across Northern Colorado advocating for transportation solutions and especially to our elected officials at the State Capitol.  Colorado has an amazing, once in a lifetime, opportunity to apply for federal infrastructure funding.  We have long advocated for funding for North I-25 to complete the expansion project now underway.  Your northern Colorado delegation turned up the volume this last week with state leaders to make sure CDOT and the Colorado Transportation Commission understand how important this corridor is to the economic success of all of Colorado.  Thank you for being bold in sharing your voice!