Last week I shared with our members the possibility that this City Council will pass before the end of the year a local minimum wage of $19/hour by 2026 with escalations of 5-15% each year until we hit $19 and regular updates after.  I encourage the business community to review that blog and to activate your voice with community decision makers.  As I speak with business owners of all sizes, the common refrain is that you are unable to find the talent you need (even though you are already increasing wages to be competitive) and that the cost of business is quickly outsizing your desire to stay in business.  Imagine the impact of this local change, in addition to required Sick Leave, Paid Family Medical Leave and other state-driven policies on your business.

Fort Collins City Council leaders need to hear from you.  Tonight (Tuesday, October 4) is a perfect opportunity for you to speak to Council during public comment. Here’s how you can make your voice heard and also in Spanish. Emails, phone calls and community meetings also provide tremendous opportunities for interaction with decision makers.

SHOUT OUT!

Congratulations to UCHealth on their announcement today of a major expansion of MCR to meet the growing health care needs of northern Colorado.  The $280 million project will include:

• A five-story tower will serve trauma-surgical, medical-surgical and surgical-ICU inpatients, among others.
• A cancer center on the first floors of both the north medical office building and the new tower. The new cancer center will feature high-dose radiation therapy, which patients currently travel to metro Denver to receive, as well as a new gynecological oncology clinic, a new radiation oncology program, including a linear accelerator, and additional medical oncology clinic and infusion space.
• The emergency department will grow from 27 to 49 rooms and include a new entrance.
• Two electrophysiology labs and two cardiac catheterization labs will be added to the south side of the existing hospital building.
• Imaging will be expanded with additional CT, ultrasound and MRI services and an additional interventional radiology suite on the east side of the existing hospital building.
• Parking will be expanded for patients and staff.

We are so fortunate to have tremendous health care in the region and this expansion adds to that important community resource.