Strengthening Durango’s Economy

– Hi, I’m Eric Eicher, employee owner and president of Alpine Bank Durango. At Alpine Bank, we believe in the power of community and connecting you with the resources you need to work, live, and play in our community. I hope you enjoy this edition of “Community Insights.”

Ever wondered how small towns like Durango keep their economy thriving? Much of it comes down to local organizations like the La Plata Economic Development Alliance, which builds community resilience with three key areas, housing, workforce development, and building business capacity.

Workforce housing, that has been a crisis for La Plata County for a while now. We’ve helped to stand the Regional Housing Alliance of La Plata County up and that is a multi-jurisdictional housing authority that includes La Plata County, town of Ignacio, town of Bayfield, and city of Durango. So bringing those four government partners together to collaborate on workforce housing and housing needs has enabled us to be very creative with a number of solutions that are needed, including our Catalyst Fund that we’ve been able to raise a million dollars for and deploy over half of that to workforce housing projects.

The Alliance created the Catalyst Fund as part of its three year housing investment strategy to take advantage of major funding opportunities, such as the American Rescue Plan Act and Proposition 123. To tackle workforce development, the Alliance joined forces with Fort Lewis College on Project Rural Upscale Network, or Project RUN, a workforce skills program funded by a $1.2 million Opportunity Now Colorado grant.

Workforce development is a big offering of ours. We have an Opportunity Now grant with Fort Lewis College. So we partner with them on a $1.25 million grant to provide micro certifications for industry by industry here. So in the first year of the program, we were able to provide two leadership classes that were tailored to the area industry, they were ready to move folks up and/or retain and recruit, and we were able to help provide some leadership classes for that workforce.

The Economic Development Alliance has deployed more than 377,000 into local businesses through grants and contracts, reinvesting these funds back into the regional economy.

So in this last year, we’ve been able to expand some business capacity in a multitude of ways, from making economic incentives with the city of Durango to including childcare as another thing for us to focus on in the need to build workforce.

The Alliance works hard to strengthen local industries in manufacturing. Each year, the organization hosts the Alliance Summit at Sky Ute Casino to share information on national and local business trends and needs. The event is one way the Alliance keeps a close watch on the local economy and to ensure support for local businesses.

We’re working really hard here at the Economic Development Alliance to understand what our community needs and to meet them where they are to ensure that we do have a thriving economy.

In a small, rural town like Durango, a thriving economy takes extra dedication. Organizations like the Economic Development Alliance play a big role in making that possible. Join them on the second Tuesday of every month for its investor meetings at the FLC Center for Innovation in the main mall to address what’s going on economically in the region. For more information, visit its website. We’re proud to present “Community Insights,” powered by the Local News Network, and sponsored by Alpine Bank. With “Community Insights,” our mission is to foster a stronger and more connected community in La Plata County and beyond. For more information about this and other stories, visit durangolocal.news. Thank you for watching this edition of “Community Insights.” I’m Sadie Smith.