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Lake County EDC outlines 2025 priorities: business outreach, data tools and a 'business concierge'
Summary
Lake County economic development officials reviewed 2024 capacity work and told commissioners on Jan. 30 they will focus in 2025 on business retention and expansion, improved data/GIS tools, a business-concierge concept to assist stalled projects, internship pipelines and a countywide economic-impact study.
Lake County economic development representatives gave the Board of County Commissioners a progress report on Jan. 30, describing 2024 capacity-building and setting priorities for 2025 centered on business engagement, data tools and a proposed "business concierge" to help move stalled projects forward.
The presenters said 2024 was largely devoted to reorganizing the local economic-development structure, clarifying roles among partners (Main Street, Chamber, tourism, the Small Business Development Center and the county), and forming an executive steering committee of key institution leaders. The steering committee meets monthly and is intended as a coordinated venue for city, county and institutional leadership to align on priorities and funding strategies.
Staff described concrete 2025 goals: a coordinated round of one-on-one business outreach with partner organizations (an "Elevate Leadville Twin Lakes" collaboration), improved public-facing data and GIS planning tools to make local economic indicators and land information more accessible, and a business-concierge model to provide neutral technical and advocacy support for developers and local projects.
Officials said the EDC has already hired a shared staff resource, Sam Block, who will work between the SBDC and the EDC on small-business assistance, marketing and outreach. The EDC plans a countywide economic-impact study in 2025 to identify drivers of local employment and seasonal demand and to inform later feasibility work (for example, to assess the case for incubator space or targeted service businesses).
The business-concierge concept presented would be a neutral point of contact to shepherd prospective developers through permitting, infrastructure checks and coordination with public agencies. Presenters said the concierge role aims to reduce multi-year delays on projects by assembling the right public and private parties early, clarifying infrastructure constraints, and coordinating next steps.
Workforce and internship efforts are also on the EDC's near-term list: staff and board members said they will explore internship placements and potential curriculum partnerships with Colorado Mountain College and the local school district to build seasonal and year-round workforce pipelines. The EDC also flagged a potential shared grant-writer to pursue federal and state funding jointly across city, county and nonprofit partners.
Presenters asked the commission for feedback and said they will continue coordinating with the county on the airport business park and other large-site priorities. They described the 2024 steering-committee work as preparatory: building the relationships and governance structures needed to coordinate funding, grants and deployment of staff resources in 2025 and beyond.
County commissioners and staff raised questions about outreach timing and coordination with existing tourism and development staff; EDC representatives said they intend to avoid duplicative work and to use the steering committee to align roles. The EDC report concluded with an ask that the county participate in the planned economic-impact study and consider shared staffing and grant-writing arrangements as the EDC pursues multi-year initiatives.
