The Fort Collins Area Chamber of Commerce helped found a group in 1992 called the Northern Colorado Legislative Alliance or NCLA. Originally it was a partnership with the 3 largest chambers in the area – Fort Collins, Greeley and Loveland. Today it also includes Upstate Colorado Economic Development and the Northern Colorado Legislative Alliance.
The regional decided to band together for mutual benefit. It was hard to get things done in Denver as individual communities and organizations.
NCLA has a storied history of impacting issues to the benefit of the area. In recent years the best example is funding for North I-25. The group called the Fix North I-25 Business Alliance was created by NCLA.
I’m bringing all of this up for several reasons.
First, I just walked in the office a few minutes ago from NCLA’s annual planning retreat. The NCLA Board spent 5 ½ hours talking about big issues and trends impacting the region and setting its 2017-18 plan in place. (NCLA operates on a September 1 fiscal year.)
On the agenda are water, energy development, workforce development, and, of course, staying focused on funding for I-25 while supporting other key regional roadways. We’ll publish the plan when it is finalized in September.
Second, I want to say ‘thank you’ to the people who serve on the NCLA board. Fort Collins Chamber reps include me, Kermit Allard, Carl Maxey of MGS, Inc., Jennifer Ray of Woodward, Steve Tool, Ralph Waldo and Sharie Grant of OfficeScapes. Carl was elected as 2017-18 Chair – his second time – and Kermit was elected as Treasurer for the third time.
Greeley Chamber reps include Sarah MacQuiddy of the Greeley Chamber, Sandy Bright of ABC Child Development Centers, Bill Jerke of Bill Jerke Consulting, Tom Norton, Laurel LaBonde of State Farm and Carol Salter of Banner Health Northern Colorado who was elected as Chair-Elect.
Loveland Chamber reps include Mindy McCloughan of the Loveland Chamber, Dave Clark of Candlelight Dinner Playhouse, Brian DelGrosso of Pappa Johns, Pete Gazlay of Total Facility Care, Bob Snyder of Loveland Insurance, Steve Olson of B2B CFO, and Barbara Koelzer of Information and Real Estate Services. Barbara’s two years as Chair ends August 31.
The other two board members are Rich Werner of UpState Colorado and Andy Montgomery of Northern Colorado Legislative Alliance.
The board’s work is supported by lobbyist Sandra Solin of Capitol Solutions and event and board support is provided by Amanda Miller of the Place Setting Company.
Though not formally attached to NCLA as a board member or NCLA lobbyist or staff, Ann Hutchison, the Executive Vice President at the Fort Collins Chamber provides significant support help. For instance, she facilitated today’s planning retreat.
They all put in a lot of time on behalf of businesses in Northern Colorado and do a great job.
Third, the NCLA Board is looking for one or two new board members. A couple of the current board members have mentioned the possibility of cycling off the board. If you have an interest in potentially serving, let me know.