GUEST COLUMN: Kazmierski: Colorado Springs has a bright economic future
As I move on from the Colorado Springs Regional Economic Development Corporation (EDC), I would like to take a few moments to reflect on the place where I have spent much of my life, the place where my kids have grown up, the place I will always consider special.
While we have lived here nearly 14 years, my view is from the CEO position I held in the EDC where I worked for the past ten years, six as CEO. We (the EDC team of first class ED professionals, board, volunteers, partners and investors) have achieved much over the past six years, despite the challenges of the great recession. Our focus has remained on the urgent need to attract and retain quality jobs in a community with so many unemployed.
We assisted in attraction or expansion of over 70 companies, totaling over 10,000 jobs. That, I’m proud to say, is better than the per capita average of our competitors. We landed projects that include FedEx, Wal-Mart and HP, but the lesser known smaller companies are just as important. Many of these “singles” as we called them, did not make the front page but are still here paying good wages and growing. We are also proud of the occasional “call centers” we call “service support centers” because they give people in our community decent jobs with benefits. Additionally, they often grow into a corporate campus that includes tech jobs, a data center and other operations; just look at Progressive, T-Rowe Price, Oracle, USAA, Fed-Ex, etc.
We initiated a business retention program that was recognized nationally as one of the best, and made a concerted effort to keep the companies and jobs we already have, right here in this region. Another example of our success in this area is the nearly three years we worked to retain the Space Foundation. We now have a 15-year commitment from them to stay and they now have a world-class headquarters we can all be proud of.
We also put significant time into helping entrepreneurs grow their ideas into companies — companies like Neumann Systems, a game changer in the world of clean coal. Unfortunately, many of these companies have moved on because we, as a community, were unable to meet their capital (funding) needs. A community venture fund is on the EDC project list and with the help of our many partners, this initiative will succeed in the years ahead.
As I have said many times, economic development is a team sport and in this highly competitive environment it will take a real team effort to support quality job creation and initiatives to improve our community. There is no room for significant flaws or shortcomings in our community, like dead parks, overgrown medians or unfriendly government.
Would you buy a house that had not been maintained, when the house down the street looked great and was offering you a discount? Speaking of that discount, in the ED world that’s called an “incentive” and they do matter in job attraction and expansion projects. Like it or not, when things are nearly equal, the incentives are often the tie breaker that demonstrates a commitment by the community to the company,.
What I will miss most, are the many caring, hard working and inspiring people in this community, people I have worked closely with, people I have come to know and appreciate, life-long friends. They are in every sector, from government to the arts, non-profits to business, media to politicians, education to the military and community activists to volunteers. Yet, there are a few that are determined to hold us back, some ideologues, some political extremists, some just determined to control everything, most, well-intentioned. They have an important role but should never speak for the majority.
The future of Colorado Springs is very bright if the majority and the people that really care about our future continue to believe and invest in this wonderful community.
My very best to you all — it has truly been an honor and a privilege to serve you.
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Mike Kazmierski is the former president and CEO of the Colorado Springs Regional Economic Development Corporation.
