Adams County delays formal adoption of draft economic development strategic plan after commissioners seek tighter priorities

Adams County community and economic development staff presented a draft economic development strategic plan to the Adams County Board of Commissioners and received direction to refine priorities and return for further discussion rather than adopting the document at this time. Jenny Hall, Adams County community and economic development director, led the presentation and was joined by Bill Aiken, deputy director.

The plan, which staff said is designed to implement the 2022 Advancing Adams comprehensive plan, lays out goals and 72 action items across three strategy buckets—business, people and places—and ties those to near-, mid- and long-term timeframes. Hall said the draft is intended to help “position Adams County as a premier business destination” and to guide attraction, retention and expansion work while aligning with the county’s larger strategic planning efforts. She told the board, “We really want today to be an active conversation, getting input from the board.”

Staff described the division’s capacity and recent activity: the economic development team is led by a manager (Lucas Workman, not present) and, as of the presentation, had recently grown from three to four staff members; last year the team processed 57 prospect alerts, worked with 13 entrepreneurs or businesses seeking location assistance and helped five businesses decide to locate in Adams County. Business navigation worklogged 108 interactions in 2024 and 92 year-to-date, according to staff. The draft also proposes a centralized, user-friendly economic development website that staff expects to launch this fall; staff characterized the website project as a near-term item to be completed within a year.

The presenters anchored the plan in a market profile: Adams County is a fast-growing, relatively young and diverse county with major employers including UCHealth (Anschutz campus), Amazon and Children’s Hospital. Staff noted the county’s labor participation rate (cited as 67.8 percent in the presentation) and said the county is slightly below the state average for residents holding bachelor’s degrees, a point staff flagged as a workforce development opportunity.

Commissioners and board members praised the plan’s organization but raised consistent concerns about the level of detail and scope. Several board members said the list of 72 action items felt too operational for an adopted strategic plan and asked staff to reduce the set of items the board would be asked to formally adopt. One board member summarized the sentiment: the first three chapters that define goals and strategies are appropriate for public adoption, while the detailed implementation tasks are better suited to an internal work plan. Bill Aiken, deputy director, said the spreadsheet handout is a way “to strike the right balance” between higher-level strategic guidance and the day-to-day work plan.

Several commissioners asked that the draft be refined after the county’s upcoming retreat and broader strategic planning work so the economic plan aligns directly with the board’s high-level priorities. Commissioners also pressed staff on perceived returns from outside marketing and sponsorship spending (one commissioner asked about a promised ICSC report and whether a more detailed accounting could be provided). Other comments urged staff to prioritize neighborhoods, housing and environmental issues where county government has unique authority, and to focus on process improvements—such as permitting and intergovernmental coordination—that board members said would improve development outcomes.

Staff noted other next steps the board can expect: continued conversations about incentives and formalizing a performance-based incentives policy later this year, an enterprise zone redesignation process administered by county staff, and plans to integrate the economic development landing page with the county’s new website. There was no motion or vote to adopt the draft during the discussion; staff said they will return with a revised, more focused document after additional board direction and the county strategic retreat.

For now, the board left the draft in active development with clear direction to pare and prioritize items for adoption and to keep detailed implementation material as an internal work plan or appendix rather than as the principal adopted document.