February 2012 | Government Finance Review 45

The Garfield Board of

County Commissioners

aims to streamline

and ease regulatory

procedures to enhance

the county’s business

accessibility. The intent is

to invite business rather

than challenge it.

Competition for business

has become a powerful cat-

alyst to job creation, and in

2011, the Garfield Board of County

Commissioners identified job creation

as the county’s primary development

goal. Since then, the board has directed

its staff to explore avenues for attract-

ing new businesses and for keeping

existing businesses in the county. This

approach has spawned an energized

pro-business environment in the county.

The new effort can be summarized

as “this county is open for business.”

The board’s vision is to streamline and

ease regulatory procedures to enhance

Garfield County’s business accessibility.

The intent is to invite business rather

than challenge it.

Most of western Garfield County,

Colorado, is situated on widespread

oil and gas reserves, and the oil and

gas industry has been paying tax divi-

dends to the county for exploration

and development. The county board

has targeted these energy enterprises

as a foundation for sparking an eco-

nomic renaissance. An equally impor-

tant part of the board’s strategy is to

retain existing businesses by supporting

those who have invested in the county

through entrepreneurial activities of

all kinds — from supermarkets to

clothing stores, from general contrac-

tors to sporting goods. By supporting

existing business activities, the county

hopes to retain its business base while

adding new jobs.

BEST PRACTICES

Garfield County is Open for BusinessBy Lisa Dawson

46 Government Finance Review | February 2012

Garfield County is considering all

options for job creation. Since it is

close to vast expanses of National

Forest, including the Flattops Wilder-

ness, the largest designated wilderness

area in Colorado, Garfield County is

also expanding the promotion of its

recreational opportunities. Tourism is

a high priority for the county, which

benefits from summer visits, skiing

and other snow sports, and seasonal

hunting. The county is also pursuing

higher education, alternative energy,

airport development, and collabora-

tion with county municipalities, as

well as expanding its outreach

through business trade shows and a

redesigned website.

MARSHALING COUNTY RESOURCES

To help the county identify, prior-

itize, manage, and monitor its new

approach to community development,

the county manager appointed a proj-

ect management team that includes

county administration, county finance,

and the building and planning depart-

ments. The county also hired a con-

sultant to help develop strategies and

evaluate programs. Since then, the

project management team has con-

ducted internal discussions, local inter-

views, organizational structure reviews,

and ongoing discussions with the

county board, honing the process and

fielding new ideas over a six-month

period.

Several potential organizational struc-

tures have been identified. One model

is to form an economic development

corporation with representation from

the county board and its six municipali-

ties. This corporation would constitute

a structural partnership where ideas

could be discussed and plans imple-

mented, with everyone having a voice.

Other ideas include:

n Forming an appointed economic

development commission that

would serve in an advisory role,

with the county board as the hands-

on leader.

n Creating a new county department:

an economic development agency,

staffed by individuals within existing

departments and with collaborative

outreach to municipal or other local

entities.

n Relying on municipal or other local

entities as economic development

agents, with county staff leading

these efforts.

n Establishing the county board as

a grantor and reviewer of indepen-

dently managed community devel-

opment initiatives, with only modest

county oversight.

During the initial phases of this

broad-reaching development program,

the county’s project management

team is relying on the county’s own

government staff. However, creating a

separate development agency might

ultimately be the way to go, given

successful examples of community

development elsewhere — the result

of region-wide participation with both

public and private investment.

Organizations applying to receive

county funding in 2012 will need to

report to the community develop-

ment staff every quarter. This moni-

toring system requires independent

community development organiza-

tions to document the impacts of their

business attraction efforts and to

calculate new job creation on a

quarterly basis. They will provide the

county board with an overview of how

successful the funded organizations

have been in furthering the county’s

primary goal of jobs creation.

February 2012 | Government Finance Review 47

COLLABORATING WITH MUNICIPALITIES

While moving to a leadership posi-

tion on community development, the

county has formed collaborative rela-

tionships with the six municipalities

within its borders: Glenwood Springs,

Carbondale, Rifle, Silt, Parachute, and

New Castle. These municipalities have

their individual values, and the county

recognizes their autonomy in forging

their own visions for community devel-

opment.

An obvious reason for collabora-

tion is that most community develop-

ment opportunities are found within

the municipalities, where population

is concentrated and most of the

existing businesses are based. Garfield

County intends to work with these

municipalities, without exerting con-

trol over their development efforts,

to encourage positive business

climates by offering county resources

wherever possible.

The county does not have control

over land use in these municipalities,

and it has limited influence on the cost

of utilities, road access, and property

entitlements, which might be effective

business inducements. The municipali-

ties are primarily focused on sales tax

and producing service industry wages,

while Garfield County’s foremost inter-

est lies in creating primary jobs that

can spin off other jobs and generate a

broadening business base that benefits

the county as a whole.

This partnership with municipal gov-

ernments requires the county to be

flexible in applying its special abili-

ties to help fund local initiatives. As

a result, the county has agreed to

fund three community-based organi-

zations: The Carbondale Economic

Development Partnership, The Rifle

Regional Economic Development

Corporation, and the Roaring Fork

Business Resource Center. By doing

so, the county accepts an obligation

to monitor these local efforts as part

of its fiduciary responsibility wherever

county funds are applied.

The county is considering five

approaches to supporting the munici-

palities’ needs, based on their differing

economic development criteria. These

approaches span the philosophical

spectrum, from aggressive outreach

to new businesses to informal sup-

port for existing businesses. The five

approaches are:

n Economic Gardening — growing

your own prosperity by retaining

and supporting local businesses and

filling gaps where dollars are leaving

the community.

n Best Places — improving the

infrastructure, housing stock, com-

mercial offerings, and general attrac-

tiveness of local communities as a

means of creating the best prospect

for attracting entrepreneurs, retirees,

and new businesses.

n Regulatory Reform — removing

regulatory barriers, promoting less

and/or more appropriate regulation,

and less government interference in

private enterprise. This philosophy

emphasizes government as a busi-

ness facilitator, not a regulator.

n Existing Industry Leverage —

focusing efforts on the existing eco-

nomic base (for example, natural

gas development, federal lands,

tourism) and promoting efforts

that expand on these existing

enterprises.

n Industry Attraction — focusing

efforts outside the community and

aggressively working to identify and

attract entirely new businesses.

While economic development is

often pursued through a mix of these

approaches, Garfield County’s focus

will be three-fold: attracting industry,

enhancing existing businesses, and

initiating regulatory reform. The first

— attracting industry — reflects the

county’s foremost goal of bringing in

new jobs and thereby adding new dol-

lars to the local economy.

Since identifying its community

development mission, county repre-

sentatives have met with the mayors

of all six municipalities to establish

collaborative processes. In September,

the county held its first business

roundtable, which will be convened

on a quarterly basis, rotating locations

through each of the six municipali-

ties. These meetings provide forums

where the business community can tell

the county how it can best encourage

the success of their businesses.

Since websites are windows to the out-

side world and major resources for pro-

motion, Garfield County has revamped

its website to improve the way the

county is perceived and increase vis-

ibility. The site has a page dedicated

to the county’s economic development

program, and it will also link to the

economic development organizations

currently operating in the county and

to the county’s six municipalities.

48 Government Finance Review | February 2012

CREATING NEW JOBS

In its broadening effort to create new

jobs, the county planning department

hired a consulting firm to streamline

county land use procedures by review-

ing the county’s land use codes. The

consultant will identify and revise sec-

tions in the code that could adversely

affect the ability of a company or indi-

vidual to conduct business in Garfield

County. This effort furthers the “open

for business” message the county is try-

ing to project.

Meanwhile, county departments that

have direct relationships with the busi-

ness community are revisiting their

individual regulatory processes. If an

existing practice restricts businesses or

has the potential to create barriers or

cause undue delays, those processes

will be reviewed and modified as nec-

essary. The ultimate goal is to stream-

line approvals and foster an improved

business climate.

This streamlining dovetails with the

county’s new commitment to branding

and marketing as a way to further its

outreach to target industries. An outside

firm was chosen to pursue this strategy.

Meanwhile, the county has identified six

industries as targets: business services,

air defense, education, energy, outdoor

recreation, and research and develop-

ment. Members of the county project

management team attend trade shows

for these specific industries, providing

information and incentives to ideally

attract them for relocation in Garfield

County. This strategy has expanded the

county’s visibility by establishing rela-

tionships with individual entrepreneurs

and businesses. The county has also

distributed approximately 600 promo-

tional brochures at trade shows and to

economic development partner agen-

cies; the brochures contain economic

and demographic data for businesses

that might be interested in establishing

a presence or relocating to Garfield

County.

For the second year, Garfield County

will support the Five Point Film Festival,

in keeping with its commitment to

working with municipalities to pro-

mote broader county goals. This event,

held annually in Carbondale, has been

steadily growing over the past four

years. It is geared to world travel, rock

climbing, kayaking, and other outdoor

adventure sports, and has two major

corporate sponsors. The festival, which

showcases the healthy, active life-

styles available to residents of Garfield

County, aligns with the county’s goals

and provides the county with a plat-

form for networking with the outdoor

industry sector.

With new jobs in mind, the county

board and staff have undertaken a

series of economic development initia-

tives aimed at enhancing the county’s

desirability as a place to live and to

base industries. In addition to support-

ing this kind of economic development,

the county also supports job training

for local youth. The board helps fund

the Western Colorado Conservation

Corps (WCCC), a program similar to

the Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC),

which the federal government creat-

ed as an emergency relief and works

project during the Great Depression.

The WCCC provides jobs for 18-25 year

olds, a segment of the labor force that

is experiencing high unemployment

rates. County funding will support two

crews that perform trail maintenance,

weed suppression, campground main-

tenance, and wildland fire buffers. The

county is also exploring opportunities

to enhance educational opportunities

by working with Colorado Mountain

College to add local graduate programs

where none currently exist. The coun-

ty’s Department of Human Services is

working with the University of Denver

to bring a Masters degree program in

Social Work to Garfield County, which

would help fill a shortage of mental

health therapists in the area.

Since Garfield County is a prime

region for gas and oil production, the

county has drafted a navigation guide

to natural gas development to help

energy companies better understand

county regulations, make it easier for

them to do business in the county,

and make the gas and oil industry

feel welcome. These efforts led to a

73 percent increase in well permits

since September 2010, which trans-

lates to a total of 236 new jobs from

two companies. There are currently 21

drill rigs operating in the county, and

energy development increased com-

mercial building permits by 33 percent

in 2010-11.

The county also encourages the

development of renewable energy

The county has formed

collaborative relationships with

the six municipalities within

its borders.

February 2012 | Government Finance Review 49

resources. A large array of photovoltaic

solar panels was installed on the roof

of the county fairgrounds, which has

the potential to reduce the county’s

energy costs. Also, in June 2011, a pri-

vate company completed installation

of the largest commercial solar panel

array in Colorado at the Rifle Airport.

The county leases the ground at the

airport for the solar array and saves on

energy costs through a power purchase

agreement. (For more information on

these projects, see “Cooperating on

Solar Power Projects in Garfield County,

Colorado,” in the June 2011 issue of

Government Finance Review.)

BREAKING NEW GROUND

The Rifle Airport also has consider-

able commercial potential. The county

is working with the airport’s fixed base

operator to develop a strategy that will

improve the infrastructure, market the

airport, and identify additional busi-

ness opportunities there. Improvements

totaling $47 million ($1.8 million in

county funds) have been made to the

Rifle Airport recently. The project, a

runway realignment that increased both

safety and air operations, is also an eco-

nomic development initiative, creating

construction jobs during the project

and other positions due to increased

aviation activities.

Negotiations are also underway to

construct a terminal that would pro-

vide more space and greater ameni-

ties for pilots who use the airport, as

well as improving the appearance of

the airport entrance. The county has

agreed to participate in activities spon-

sored by the National Business Aviation

Association, including attending a con-

ference for schedulers and dispatchers,

with the assumption that the airport can

become a catalyst for new local jobs.

Toward this aim, the county has met

with the principal of a planned unit

development for more than 1,200 acres

of land adjacent to the airport that has

been approved for commercial, resi-

dential, and industrial uses. The coun-

ty looks forward to working with the

development company and dovetail-

ing its plans with the county’s overall

strategy for importing and expanding

jobs and businesses in and around the

airport.

Finally, the county’s project manage-

ment team has recommended an ambi-

tious grant program for 2012, modeled

after a similar program administered

by the Colorado Office of Economic

Development and International Trade.

Known as the Performance Incentive

Fund, the program promotes job cre-

ation through direct monetary incen-

tive. Qualifying companies — those

that create and hire a net (or previously

negotiated) 50 full-time, permanent jobs

that pay more than 100 percent of the

average weekly wage in Garfield County

— receive a payment from the county.

If employers maintain all these new jobs

for at least one year, they can claim an

incentive of $1,500-$4,500 per job. The

performance incentive is designed to

support and encourage new business

development, business expansions,

and relocations. If the county board

supports this grant program, county

project management personnel will

begin working to budget and construct

parameters for the initiative.

CONCLUSIONS

Garfield County is taking a long-term,

proactive role in enlivening its econom-

ic health and vitality. It is advancing

innovative programs designed to sup-

port local municipalities, ease regula-

tory requirements, further the county’s

outreach, hold onto its existing employ-

ment base, and usher in a new era of

job creation that will benefit the entire

region. y

LISA DAWSON is director of administrative

services for Garfield County, Colorado.