With an economy considered one of the strongest in America, the City and County of Denver wants to build on its success and identify future business trends and workforce needs, help address the affordable housing issue and locate up to three grocery stores in underserved communities.

Those were among the goals recently outlined to the City Council’s Business, Arts, Workforce & Aeronautical Services Committee about JumpStart 2017, the city’s sixth annual economic strategic plan from the Office of Economic Development. The plan’s vision statement describes the city’s economic strategy as “boldly ambitious, with innovative, forward-thinking policies that are intent upon delivering a world-class city where everyone matters.”

Amy Edinger, chief operating officer and interim executive director of the Office of Economic Development, noted the program is designed to help decide where the department’s limited investments should be spent to help target communities and neighborhoods with the most need.

“We don’t always nail all our projects, but they’re all important,” she said.

According to figures presented to the committee, Denver’s economy has added 75,000 new jobs and 5,000 new businesses since 2011. Last year’s JumpStart program — through the city’s various incentive, tax credit, loan and training assistance programs — contributed to the creation of nearly 3,000 new and 7,000 retained jobs, led to $111.4 million in capital investment and funded the creation of 579 affordable homes.

‘Pillars” outline areas of focus for economic efforts

JumpStart 2017 is focused on five “pillars:” Economic mobility, housing opportunity, business development, business innovation and workforce development. Included within those are 84 strategic initiatives, 53 outcomes and 25 partners.

Economic mobility includes goals of creating and acting on neighborhood economic mobility and anti-displacement strategies for the Montbello, Westwood and Globeville/Elyria-Swansea communities; completing a comprehensive business development strategy to ensure the National Western Center investment helps provide a springboard for global commerce and agribusiness opportunities; and implementing a career and employment opportunity strategy based on assessment findings of residents’ skills and career aspirations in key targeted neighborhoods.

Housing opportunity goals are to develop and submit, along with the Denver Housing Advisory Committee, a comprehensive housing plan and strategy for City Council approval; help foster density at transit-oriented development sites, including mixed-income, for-sale condominium housing in the Five Points and Stapleton neighborhoods; and develop a public-private financing model with the banking community for the preservation and rehabilitation of expiring, covenant-restricted affordable housing units.

Edinger said the plan calls for a fund to help buy and preserve existing market rate affordable housing.

“We’re looking at doing more affordable housing preservation and rehabilitation of the city’s current affordable housing,” she added.

The office will also work with the city’s $15 million affordable housing program City Council approved last year, Edinger said.

Councilwoman Kendra Black claimed many existing condominiums in her district “sell for $100,000 to $125,000 every weekend. I’ve taken many of your office staff on tours to show them where these are. It’s just common sense that buying a two-bedroom unit for $140,000 is unheard of. You can’t build them for anything close to that.”

Edinger noted the office is not looking to buy and own any housing, but welcomes a private sector partner who could manage the units.

Chief Economist Jeff Romine said using land trusts to help preserve affordable housing is often done when economic conditions are down.

“Land trusts usually buy properties that are distressed or in tax sales,” he said. “We want to figure out how to deal with displacement and affordability but it doesn’t look like land trusts are the way to do that under current economic conditions.”

The plan’s business development goals are to build and support relationships with top influential business partners and assign office staff to strengthen those business relationships, and, with five key businesses, develop a civic engagement strategy; actively recruit national and global targeted companies to choose Denver as a site for their business expansion and investment, through direct outreach and headquarters visits; and execute Mayor Michael Hancock’s International Advisory Council recommendations, including increasing Denver’s image as an international “Welcoming Community.”

Business innovation goals include a $3 million fresh food financing fund with other community organizations to provide gap financing for at least one full-service grocery store each in Globeville-Elyria/Swansea, Montbello and Westwood communities. A fresh food fund of up to $1 million in each of the three areas “may not satisfy everyone’s needs, but we think it can help support that effort with funds from other sources,” Edinger said.

Other business innovation goals are to support a “maker’s lab” to provide a collaborative craft space for entrepreneurs to find manufacturing resources; help small and minority-owned businesses access public contracts through publishing quarterly reports and hosting quarterly briefings and identifying all major projects planned by the city in the next several years.

Workforce development goals are to develop initiatives to train and employ low-income residents with jobs in the fast-growing and more lucrative manufacturing, technology, health care and construction sectors; grow awareness and increase direct experiences of the next generation workforce in career and employment opportunities in Denver’s growing and evolving economy; and make continuous improvements in training, assessments and job connections for job seekers and employers.

The JumpStart 2017 strategic plan is available online at denvergov.org/content/denvergov/en/denver-office-of-economic-development.html.

— mike@coloradostatesman.com