Northern Colorado Region | 2024-2029
COMPREHENSIVE ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT STRATEGY
Northern Colorado is a nationally competitive region that fosters collaboration, innovation, prosperity, and high quality of life for its residents. Regional stakeholders and economic development professionals continue to affirm long-term economic resilience through partnerships, coordinated action in response to the region’s challenges, and leveraging of the region’s assets.
What is CEDS?
The Northern Colorado Comprehensive Economic Development Strategy (CEDS) is a collaborative effort led by NoCo REDI, involving various regional stakeholders such as communities, businesses, industries, and economic professionals. Its purpose is to create a strategic plan aimed at leveraging regional assets, reducing barriers, and fostering a diverse and resilient economic environment.
Aligned with federal and state funding opportunities, the CEDS serves as a dynamic guide for local economic development, continually updated to reflect changing regional conditions and trends. This inaugural CEDS iteration identifies current economic conditions, trends, and strategies to capitalize on existing and emerging opportunities for future growth.
Our CEDS Process
The development process included input from a diverse regional CEDS committee comprising economic development professionals, municipal leaders, business executives, and public partners. This input, gathered through stakeholder meetings, surveys, interviews, and round table sessions between July 2023 and January 2024, informed a SWOT analysis and thematic development. The CEDS committee identified four key themes and crafted objectives and action items to promote long-term economic prosperity across Northern Colorado.
Increased and Aligned Infrastructure Investment
Enhance the Region’s Quality of Life and Attractiveness to Businesses, Residents, Workers, and Visitors
Equitable Access to Opportunities
Support and Meet the Needs of Current, New, and Emerging Businesses
Goal 1 Objectives
» Prioritize infrastructure investment that enables business and industry attraction
» Focus on investment and modernization of infrastructure
» Ensure existing infrastructure has capacity for projected growth
» Effective transportation infrastructure is critical to Northern Colorado’s success
Goal 2 Objectives
» Prepare communities to support sustainable development that balances economic growth and quality of life
» Increase housing affordability and access
» Facilitate main street investments, particularly in the region’s small and rural communities
Goal 3 Objectives
» Lay the foundation for local capacity-building and self-reliance
» Enable employment of those who have typically experienced barriers to workforce participation
» Ensure population is aware and able to access existing services and opportunities
Goal 4 Objectives
» Identify opportunities for industry innovation and expand on existing regional cluster strategy efforts
» Leverage existing economic development initiatives to foster coordination and collaboration toward economic growth opportunities
» Maintain and expand upon business-friendly climate, particularly small business