OEDIT introduces legislative package to create jobs, build economy

The Colorado Office of Economic Development and International Trade (OEDIT) this week introduced a legislative package designed in support of the Colorado Blueprint.  Colorado Blueprint is the state's strategic economic development plan created in October 2011 following the bottom-up initiative.

"Colorado's number one priority is to create and retain jobs by building a more competitive economy," said Ken Lund, Executive Director of OEDIT. "With this legislative package, we are putting a sustainable framework in place that provides consistency and continuity for the current programs and future progress of Colorado's economic plan."

The legislative agenda was designed to support collaborative strategies identified in the Blueprint:

The Colorado Regional Partnership Strategy, HB12-1154, will develop a pro-active approach to create jobs and increase each region's competitiveness by focusing on emerging and promising economic opportunities for their region. The partnerships - an alliance of local business leaders and stakeholders facilitated by OEDIT - will identify and apply for regional funding, create and expand unique regional economic development plans, and align resources to drive job growth in their area.

The Colorado Key Industry Strategy, SB12-144, brings together industry partners, nonprofits, academia and business leaders to help identify the distinct "Colorado" advantage in each industry as well as create unique business plans to drive job growth.  The plans will address rules and regulations that affect operations for specific industries, determine alliances and resources needed to expand business, and develop strategies to attract new businesses.

The Colorado Business Retention and Expansion Program, SB12-005, will develop stronger partnerships between OEDIT and local economic development organizations across Colorado to facilitate and support local growth. This includes developing a rapid response team to support the local industry partners in responding when companies consider leaving the state and creating a database of resources, data and programs, to be shared with our partners.

Film Production Activities in Colorado, HB12-xxx, will combine a 20 percent rebate with a senior loan guarantee program.  The innovative program is specifically designed to attract moderately-budgeted independent film production to the state, and will be implemented in a way that will allow productions to take advantage of the many vistas Colorado has to offer:  mountains, plains, and cities.  The effect will be to employ hundreds of underemployed workers while providing positive branding for Colorado, and a boost to tourism.

OEDIT put forth two other bills created to ensure OEDIT is efficient, effective and transparent in its mission:

The Regional Tourism Act Statutory Clean Up Bill, HB12-1056, will clarify and strengthen the guardrails that already exist in the RTA statute, encouraging more out-of-state tourism, clarifying the scope and role of the third party analyst. The current applications will not be affected by pending legislation.

The OEDIT Transparency Bill, SB12-xxx will streamline the reporting dates of all incentive programs offered by OEDIT so that they are more efficient both internally and externally. In addition, this bill will require OEDIT to develop an annual report encompassing each program to assess productivity, usefulness and potential for improvements.