Downtown Economic Development in Montezuma County
College of Liberal Arts
Economics
Montezuma
County
(Larimer)
- Community & Economic Development
- Equal time spent on-campus and in the field
Primary Topic:
Community & Economic Development
Other Topics:
Agriculture, Food Systems
Internship Overview:
The intern will be working to support several economic development efforts in the SW Colorado region, with a particular focus on initiatives with two local governments in Montezuma County — Cortez and Mancos —to expand capacity for economic vitality and redevelopment. With the expanding pressures of growth, these two communities need to be prepared with key economic vitality data points and planning for development in their communities. We are in a fortunate position to have several existing partnerships with community-based government, tribal, and non-profit organizations to work with this student, allowing them to strengthen their network and learn from some engaged local leaders.
As one example of an initiative the student could support, these two communities are currently participating in the Colorado Challenge Accelerator program through Downtown Colorado, Inc. (DCI, a statewide non-profit organization committed to building downtowns that are prosperous, equitable, creative, and welcoming). CSU’s Regional Economic Development Institute has been collaborating with DCI for several years, and is looking for ways to integrate our programs into communities where they work. The Challenge Program is a unique technical assistance program which builds community capacity to address redevelopment and economic vitality issues and turn them into opportunities.
The Challenge internship role requires an organized and detail-oriented self-starter with exceptional skills in management, facilitation, and communication who shares our passion for community-building and is eager to gain hands-on experience in community and economic development, public affairs, and facilitation. This is a hand-on role working closely with community leaders to flesh out opportunities, establish recommended courses of action, and report on the process.
Another potential area of support includes work the new Northwest and Rocky Mountain Food Center (simplified to The Food Center below) where the student may help to identify and frame where investments could be made under the guidance of local Extension staff Montezuma County Extension Director, Emily Lockard and Western Regional Accessible Education Specialist, Greg Felsen.
As one example of an initiative the student could support, these two communities are currently participating in the Colorado Challenge Accelerator program through Downtown Colorado, Inc. (DCI, a statewide non-profit organization committed to building downtowns that are prosperous, equitable, creative, and welcoming). CSU’s Regional Economic Development Institute has been collaborating with DCI for several years, and is looking for ways to integrate our programs into communities where they work. The Challenge Program is a unique technical assistance program which builds community capacity to address redevelopment and economic vitality issues and turn them into opportunities.
The Challenge internship role requires an organized and detail-oriented self-starter with exceptional skills in management, facilitation, and communication who shares our passion for community-building and is eager to gain hands-on experience in community and economic development, public affairs, and facilitation. This is a hand-on role working closely with community leaders to flesh out opportunities, establish recommended courses of action, and report on the process.
Another potential area of support includes work the new Northwest and Rocky Mountain Food Center (simplified to The Food Center below) where the student may help to identify and frame where investments could be made under the guidance of local Extension staff Montezuma County Extension Director, Emily Lockard and Western Regional Accessible Education Specialist, Greg Felsen.
Goals, Scope and Objectives:
The primary goal for this position would be twofold: 1) to participate in and frame appropriate roles for CSU’s Regional Economic Development Institute and Food Center to support economic and community development needs in the Southwest Colorado region, including assessing the agrarian value added business opportunities in the county and evaluating the statewide roadmap recommendations for agricultural economy impacts in Montezuma county, and 2) to research financial support, development processes, and gather data on community economic sectors, community capacity, and development scenarios including future roadway and development impacts. This work will help to implement recommendations from the Challenge Process and advance the communities economic and community development goals.
PRIMARY DUTIES
● Engage with the community leaders to identify assets, priorities and stakeholders
● Collaborate with DCI to identify goals for the Challenge project
● Assist in community and economic development projects through documentation, data analysis and research
● Develop community data presentation including highlighting challenges and initial recommendations
● Develop attractive reports and collateral materials to present findings
● Assist with the planning of community meetings and educational events
● Providing general project support
The type of work will break down into the following approximate percentages:
● 50% remotely participating in community discussions, compiling and refining data and documentation in support of community-identified priorities
● 25% in the communities gathering community feedback, networking with regional stakeholders and coordinating one public event
● 25% remote and field work within the communities (or virtual) gathering data and working with local staff and
PRIMARY DUTIES
● Engage with the community leaders to identify assets, priorities and stakeholders
● Collaborate with DCI to identify goals for the Challenge project
● Assist in community and economic development projects through documentation, data analysis and research
● Develop community data presentation including highlighting challenges and initial recommendations
● Develop attractive reports and collateral materials to present findings
● Assist with the planning of community meetings and educational events
● Providing general project support
The type of work will break down into the following approximate percentages:
● 50% remotely participating in community discussions, compiling and refining data and documentation in support of community-identified priorities
● 25% in the communities gathering community feedback, networking with regional stakeholders and coordinating one public event
● 25% remote and field work within the communities (or virtual) gathering data and working with local staff and
With which stakeholder group(s) will the intern work?
Stakeholders in the region and communities would include town administrators and staff, Tribal leaders, community members, food system leaders, as well as community groups and local property owners identified through the Challenge Program. The Montezuma County Extension office has existing relationships with many of these stakeholders already, but could benefit from more targeted community and economic development support.
What student learning outcomes do you anticipate and what are the opportunities for professional development?
As one example, the Challenge Program supports communities in identifying catalyst sites for community benefit and growth and/or environmental remediation. Through a series of webinars and workshops hosted by DCI, communities will emerge from the annual IN THE GAME conference (to be held in April 2024 in Durango) with a clearly identified site, a series of community objectives they look to accomplish, and a network of stakeholders to help accomplish the goal. Since the intern may not yet be identified, we would share a summary of what was learned as part of their onboarding.
The intern will be able to align with the communities after the conference and assist them implementing the work plan of activating the catalyst site. This could include policy and regulatory work to enable the community vision, working with developers and architects on a plan for the site, or with the administration and economic development professionals to market and recruit development.
The Colorado Challenge program is utilizing a novel approach to building community capacity for redevelopment and remediation, and the intern will also be able to use locally generated data, field observations and work plan implementation, and comparable community data to analyze the efficacy of newly developed community capacity profiles to illustrate the local capacity, and support the right-sized next steps for the community to continually improve their capacity for economic development. These dimensions of capacity include leadership, local knowledge, local climate and attitudes, activities and processes, and fiscal capacity. Although this seems specific to the
The intern will be able to align with the communities after the conference and assist them implementing the work plan of activating the catalyst site. This could include policy and regulatory work to enable the community vision, working with developers and architects on a plan for the site, or with the administration and economic development professionals to market and recruit development.
The Colorado Challenge program is utilizing a novel approach to building community capacity for redevelopment and remediation, and the intern will also be able to use locally generated data, field observations and work plan implementation, and comparable community data to analyze the efficacy of newly developed community capacity profiles to illustrate the local capacity, and support the right-sized next steps for the community to continually improve their capacity for economic development. These dimensions of capacity include leadership, local knowledge, local climate and attitudes, activities and processes, and fiscal capacity. Although this seems specific to the
