Local leaders to focus on economic development, arts, regional approach in trip to Denver

Nearly 150 local business, civic, political and governmental leaders are preparing to spend three days in Denver this week as part of the annual Greater Columbus Chamber of Commerce intercity visit.

This is the 25th consecutive trip and the second one that has focused on Columbus 2025, a chamber backed regional initiative to increase prosperity, reduce poverty and improve overall quality of life for a stronger and more vibrant region for decades to come.

The group departs Columbus on a charter flight Tuesday afternoon and returns Friday. The bulk of the work will be done Wednesday and Thursday.

One of those on the trip is Russell County Sheriff Heath Taylor, who has attended more than a half dozen of the leadership conferences in recent years. It is an important week for listening, asking questions and learning, Taylor said.

“I like to look at what they are doing in these cities and I try and look for different things that are bringing in business and increasing population,” Taylor said on Monday. “You also see things that open your eyes to places where we can do better..”

One of the topics that will be dealt with this week in Denver, that city’s commitment to youth and arts Integration, is of interest to Taylor and the law enforcement community, he said.

“What does a youth arts center have to do with public safety?” Taylor said. “The answer is everything. You want more productive things for young kids and kids in high school to do. Those types of programs help indirectly with public safety. If kids are involved in these kinds of programs they are less likely to be involved in less productive things that will get them in trouble,”

That’s how the organizers want the participants thinking, said Greater Columbus Chamber of Commerce President and Chief Executive Officer Brian Anderson.

“That is exactly what we are looking for,” Anderson said.

The programs and on-site visits this year will follow closely with the five focus areas of Columbus 2025 — entrepreneurship and culture; vibrant and connected places; targeted economic growth; talented and educated people; and a cohesive image and identity.

One of the places that the group will visit is Denver’s River North district, commonly called RiNo. It is an old industrial area that has been revitalized.

“What they have done is taken one of the least desirable places in Denver and made it one of the most desirable places,” Anderson said.

Chamber Executive Vice President for Community Development and Growth Amy Bryan has been the chief planner for the annual trip and she said the RiNO district is relevant with what’s happening, including the push to redevelop what is commonly called “City Village,” which is the land between the TSYS campus and Bibb City along Second Avenue and the Chattahoochee River.

“They totally transformed that area” in Denver, Bryan said. “Now, all of the young people want to move to that area. They have made it into a cool and hip neighborhood.”

The first intercity trip was to Charlotte, N.C., in 1994, where the focus was regional economic development and downtown redevelopment. And it’s fitting that regional economic development will be back on the table this year, Anderson said. Metro Denver Economic Development Corporation CEO J.J. Ament and the organization’s vice president, Sam Bailey, will talk about regional economic development on Wednesday.

“I am working with my counterparts in Auburn, Opelika, LaGrange, Talbot County, Marion County and Chattahoochee County to see how we can better work together,” Anderson said. “We share water, roads and workers. How do we work together? If you look, the issues they are facing in Auburn and Opelika are not that much different from the issues we are facing in Columbus.”

Greenville, S.C., and Charlotte are the only repeat cities over the last quarter century. Most of the trips have been to larger communities than Columbus, like Columbus, Ohio, Kansas City, St. Louis, San Antonio, Memphis, Indianapolis, Nashville and Jacksonville, Fla.

“No matter what size the city is we visit, we can find some things that they do better than we do, and we can find things that we do better than they do,.” Anderson said. “But it’s always good to open your eyes to new things and new places.”

This story was originally published September 17, 2018 at 3:53 PM.