Get Full Government Meeting Transcripts, Videos, & Alerts Forever!
Get email alerts on the Economic Development topic
No spam. Unsubscribe anytime.
County hears regional economic-development briefing on retention, incentives and utility constraints
Summary
Economic development partners briefed Arapahoe County commissioners on primary-employer strategies, workforce pipelines, incentives and local utility capacity; presenters urged speed-to-market permitting and active promotion of a newly redesigned enterprise zone.
Becky, a presenter from regional economic-development partners, told the Arapahoe County Board of Commissioners on March 18 that “primary employers bring new wealth into the community” and described how those firms’ wages and purchases ripple through local retail, housing and services. The briefing, requested by county staff as part of the board’s strategic-plan work, laid out tools counties and cities use to retain and attract employers.
The presentation, led by partners from Denver South and the Aurora economic development corporation, defined economic development as a set of programs and policies that create and retain jobs and expand the tax base. Presenters said Arapahoe County’s strengths include large concentrations of skilled workers and clusters in aerospace and defense, healthcare and finance; they cited Arrow Electronics as a local primary employer with broad export activity and roughly 1,500 local employees.
Speakers emphasized that retention — keeping existing employers — produces the majority of new jobs. Presenters described hands-on customer service (clearing permit issues, addressing grievances) and partnerships with workforce organizations such as AD Works as routine retention tactics. On attraction, they said targeted outreach, relationships with site selectors and having market-ready real estate and utilities matter.
Commissioners pressed presenters on utility constraints after several county firms reported delays and long timelines from local electric providers. A regional representative said the present concern is not immediate lack of electrons but uncertainty: long queue times and unclear application-to-service timelines make it hard for firms to plan large investments, especially for facilities needing high-power connections. The county was told the practical problem is companies cannot get a reliable, near-term schedule from utilities — a planning risk that can prevent expansions.
The presenters also walked the board through incentive tools: county-level business personal property tax rebates, municipal sales/use tax rebates, expedited permitting and targeted fee waivers. They stressed incentives are typically performance-based and that, for many firms, “speed to market” (predictable, accelerated permitting and plan-review timelines) is as valuable as cash rebates.
A recent redesignation expanded the county’s enterprise zone by about 10,000 acres; presenters recommended pro-active outreach to existing businesses to ensure they know how to claim tax credits for capital investment and hiring. The Aurora Chamber will help manage promotion. County commissioners asked staff to return with options for how the board could consider incentives and permitting changes in the coming months.
The briefing closed with workforce and housing links: data show average commute distances increased in the Denver South corridor (a recent commuter survey moved from ~15 to ~19 miles), which presenters and commissioners tied to housing affordability and the ability of employers to recruit and retain workers. Staff said workforce pipelines — career and technical education programs and community-college partnerships — are improving but that technician- and trade-focused roles remain in short supply.
The meeting ended with commissioners thanking the presenters and asking staff to continue the conversation about incentives and operational changes that could speed private projects through permitting and review.
