Become a Creator today!Start creating today - Share your story with the world!
Start for free
00:00:00
00:00:01
All in Adams--Adams County Business Town Hall Recap
24 Plays10 days ago
Several weeks ago, the Adams County Board of Commissioners hosted a Business Town Hall in partnership with our Community and Economic Development (CED) Department and AC-REP. On this episode of All in Adams, Commissioner Lynn Baca and CED Director Jenni Hall recap the conversation, highlight topics raised by local business owners, and share how the county is fostering conversations like this to build an effective culture of community engagement.
Recommended
Transcript
Introduction to 'All In Adams'
00:00:04
Speaker
Welcome to All In Adams, the official podcast of Adams County Government, where we're all in for our residents, our employees, and our community. So whether you live here, work here, or you just want to know more about what makes Adams County a great place to be, thanks for tuning in.
00:00:21
Speaker
We're all in, Adams.
Business Town Hall Recap
00:00:23
Speaker
Welcome to another episode of All in Adams, where we dive into the stories, the people, and the partnership shaping our community. I'm Nikki Wellander, and I'm the Press Secretary here at Adams County, and I'm so excited to join you today to recap our recent business-focused town hall.
00:00:38
Speaker
It was an incredible evening that was filled with conversation and real-time feedback from our business community, and it's one of the latest in our series of meetings designed to bring meaningful conversations with our elected officials directly to our residents.
00:00:50
Speaker
To help me dive into this more, I'm joined by Commissioner Lynn Baca, the chair of our Adams County Board of Commissioners, and by Jenny Hall, the director of community and economic development here at Adams County.
00:01:00
Speaker
Thank you both so much being here. Thank you. Thank you.
Goals and Structure of the Town Hall
00:01:04
Speaker
So let's start with just a big picture look. Commissioner Baca, for those who couldn't join us in person, can you describe what this business-focused town hall was all about?
00:01:12
Speaker
Absolutely. So this has been a priority of the board to do these town halls. We did a residential town hall um about a month and a half ago, I think. And so we started with the business town hall. um It's the second business town hall we've had since I've been here.
00:01:26
Speaker
um It's a priority the board to understand the struggles, open up the communication between Adams County and the businesses. Our community community economic development department was there to help with resources, to answer questions.
00:01:41
Speaker
So it's an opportunity um for engagement ah for the commissioners to be out in community, also for our businesses to join in and share um any concerns that they may have, concerns policy discussions that they want to have as well. So it was a very productive night and we're very happy with the attendance. so Awesome.
00:02:02
Speaker
We also, one of the things I thought was really cool about this was that we really wanted to make sure that it was not just a one-way street. And in so many ways, it wasn't just a two-way street either. It was a multi-way intersection. We shared information, our audience shared back with us, and we also heard from our partners at this event too.
00:02:17
Speaker
And all of this was designed to bring the biggest bang for everybody's buck, right Jenny? Can you tell us a little more? Yes. I mean, anytime we are organizing meetings for our business owners, um you know, we recognize they are they are busy all day, often
Business Resources and Networking Opportunities
00:02:30
Speaker
i didn't quite late into the evening, um running their business. And we want to make sure that we're providing a high value for their time.
00:02:37
Speaker
um So we did that through having the resource tables, as as was mentioned, um as well as the opportunity to connect and network with others in the business community um and provide real-time feedback so that we could know how to follow up in a meaningful way to them in the future.
00:02:54
Speaker
And I think that being able to have all of those conversations in one spot is such an important point, Jenny, especially because this was coordinated across multiple departments internally and including both of the departments that y'all work in with the board and with community and economic development.
00:03:11
Speaker
And we brought in external partners to help us make this whole thing happen. We partnered with AC rep and we brought in guest speakers including Brian Fallon from Rocky Mountain Industrials and Jack Buffington from DU Center for Excellence.
00:03:24
Speaker
um Why was it important to bring these voices into the conversation? Sure. I think, you know, we often talk about things from the county lens and we really wanted to make sure we were communicating about what partnership looks like through the business lens.
00:03:38
Speaker
um We have been working with Brian and the Rocky Mountain Industrials team for several years now and have built just such a great relationship, a lot of trust, um collective problem solving,
00:03:49
Speaker
um skills, and that's incredibly valuable to to relay that. um But then also our new institutional partnership with DU and the Center of Excellence that Jack leads, think that really demonstrates the county's commitment to taking innovative and exciting approaches to workforce development.
00:04:08
Speaker
Lynn, do you have anything that add on that? I would only add it was facilitated by, um you said ACREP, which is the Adams County Regional Economic Partnership. um They've been through, they are an evolution of what used to be the Metro North Chamber and Adams County Economic Development from several years ago.
00:04:28
Speaker
and so it was great to have Lisa facilitate ah that that discussion, the commissioners being the panel and then staff and having support go and talk with our businesses. But I agree with Jenny to have Rocky Mountain ah Rail Industries there, Brian Fallon, and then also um do you Center for Excellence and their new partnership that we have with them at the Colorado Air and Spaceport.
Community Feedback and Economic Insights
00:04:52
Speaker
I think that that was one of the things I thought was so cool was to hear from so many businesses that and night and so many different folks from different, different sectors and different, different areas of the county. We got so much great feedback.
00:05:04
Speaker
Commissioner, what stood out to you the most about the different perspectives and the different feedback that was shared? I really appreciate that question. So we used a piece of technology called Menti. So people can freeform type into their phone. It shows up on a word map of what is top of mind for them. And top of mind um in the past, it used to be a lot of homelessness that they would see. And not to say that um that doesn't continue, but what we're hearing from our businesses is really something The uncertainty in the economy, um inflation was also a concern for our businesses.
00:05:41
Speaker
And I think that's just where we're at, that we're also, um as your government, as Adams County, we're also working through that. And then, of course, as residents, um we also feel that impact. But it was really impactful to have the business community share that with us.
00:05:57
Speaker
How did that help shape the conversation in real time to see the live polling and to see all of the the thoughts of the community members who were there popping up on the screen in front of us?
00:06:09
Speaker
I think the value of the live polling is It's something with a visual also is that you get to read the words and there was probably 50 different words on the screen of what was of top concern for them. So we've gone through our budget conversations um here at the county in the last couple of weeks. The adoption will come here in a couple more weeks.
00:06:30
Speaker
um And it really helps us understand the forecast of business of like, what does the forecast for Adams County look like? We had a level setting at our budget discussion um of the economic forecast. It was the CU lead school of business that came in and did a presentation for the board also talked about business concerns, what business industries are for.
00:06:55
Speaker
we attracting here in Adams County? What does workforce development look like? How do we have our high school students, what kind of, you know, career technical education can they, our school districts provide higher ed? That's why the DU center for excellence. So the County is looking at this as a complete ecosystem of business workforce development partnerships.
00:07:17
Speaker
And so to hear from businesses, um, really reinforce later on that month, uh, To also hear it from the budget, the lead school of business team expressed the same thing that our businesses were sharing.
00:07:31
Speaker
Absolutely. And I think that that really tees up one of my next questions perfectly.
Housing Concerns and Solutions
00:07:34
Speaker
The economic concerns that our businesses are seeing, we heard about housing a lot during this conversation.
00:07:41
Speaker
And Jenny, I know that your team works on housing constantly, think is a fair word to use. Yeah, that is true. What were some of the issues that were brought up by some of the folks in the room? What were some of the things that they're concerned about in the housing sphere? And what are some of the things that Adams County is doing to address our housing topics?
00:08:00
Speaker
Thanks for the question, Nikki. I think, you know we know housing affordability is a national issue, um certainly grappling with it at state and regional levels, too. um and But oftentimes we're really talking about it from the resident perspective, someone looking for a home or dealing with the affordability challenges.
00:08:17
Speaker
And this was just an interesting conversation because we do need to think about it always um from the standpoint of what that means for an employer, right? If you cannot house your workforce, you can't be successful.
00:08:29
Speaker
um And I think they were really looking for for some more engagement and ah hopefully we can build on that more. I don't think we expected it to be a housing town hall, but we can do one of those. um But I do want to call out, we are, through the month of October, wrapping up our housing needs assessment that's specific to Adams County. We have participated with Dr. Cog in the regional housing needs assessment.
00:08:50
Speaker
Now we're drilling down. And all of that will go into an update to our balanced housing plan. We haven't done that um in eight years. So this will be a really big um update.
00:09:01
Speaker
And there is an opportunity to continue the engagement with us through our Engage with Adams platform. um Just Google that. will take you right there. um And there's a link to participate and in both of those pieces.
00:09:13
Speaker
That document will really help us strategize, further develop partnerships, communicate clearly what we're doing to address those needs throughout the county. You can also find that same document there, the same engage with Adams platform on our website, which is Adams County co.gov.
00:09:31
Speaker
Um, and you can find all of the great housing programs that your team works on all of the time, all of the updates on different things that y'all are doing, um, on our community and economic development webpage on Adams County co.gov as well.
00:09:45
Speaker
Our new website, which is pretty looking pretty good. um, not Not to get too excited about it, but it's looking pretty looking pretty good. It's fun to go look at.
Workforce Development Initiatives
00:09:55
Speaker
Another topic that came up quite a bit was workforce. And it was great to to have Jack Buffington there to talk a little bit about.
00:10:02
Speaker
um the future opportunities that the DU Center for Excellence will bring. But what are some of the ways that the county is helping to strengthen our workforce here, especially through our workforce and business center?
00:10:12
Speaker
um And it's helping to connect talent to opportunity right here in our own backyard. I know, Commissioner Vaca, I hear you talk a lot about people being able to see opportunity right here where they live. That's right. So our Median age here in Adams County is 35 years old. So when I go and talk with whether it's school superintendents or I go and talk with business community members, um our Chamber of Commerce is i used we used to say that Adams County is here to support a region.
00:10:43
Speaker
We're actually here to support the state of Colorado. so with such a young workforce here in Adams County and having such young people, including our students, our high school students, our junior high students, that they have an opportunity now to look at different industries that maybe weren't available, certainly when I grew up. So the county has flipped completely. um We're about 56%, 55% white collared.
00:11:11
Speaker
um And then our agricultural routes, are they have completely switched over. so You know, when I was growing up, it was closer to 50, 55% was ag and all of the peripheral businesses that support ag.
00:11:24
Speaker
um And it's different now. So now we have opportunities in Colorado Air and Spaceport. We still, that that's going to be a huge one for us. So we're really watching that. It's number one priority here for at the county since we're the owner operators. But really building that ecosystem of working with um Our K-12 schools also working with higher ed, our community colleges. We just had Chris Godowski with us yesterday from Adams 12 and listening to him talking about they're looking at um really airport schools.
00:11:56
Speaker
services and maintenance as part of a curriculum of career technical education for their students, which could potentially feed into the third largest airport in the world, Denver International Airport.
00:12:09
Speaker
More so, it could ah be a feeder for ah what's to happen yet at Colorado Air and Spaceport. so Workforce development, another exciting partnership that we forged here at Adams County. um I think I'm safe to announce it is that we welcome the Hispanic Restaurant Association.
00:12:26
Speaker
They have a kitchen they're going to start doing. um They have a curriculum as well. that they're sending their current students through. um a lot of it is done ai and online. And I've researched that, that you can get a baking certificate or degree online. And it's really exciting.
00:12:44
Speaker
We all went through our sourdough and banana bread um eras in 2020. And so to have this relationship with the Hispanic Restaurant Association is really exciting for our students that Food service, you know, they can get exposed to it at a CTE at their high school in their school district.
00:13:01
Speaker
And then this is a feeder, potentially feeder um opportunity for them to learn to be a chef and to learn how to cook um after they know the food safety they're learning at the CTEs.
00:13:13
Speaker
And that's such a special partnership too, because we have such a large Hispanic and Latino population here. And to know that we are spearheading that and to be able to really foster those opportunities is so, so special. Yes. So um i I know you had your fingers crossed with the, like, hopefully where we're good to, to,
00:13:31
Speaker
They were moving in when we went last week, we bumped into them. And so they're moving into, um, a kitchen commercial space. Actually, it's a space that was underutilized by the County. We own that kitchen commercial space. And so to have them utilize that space and you know, really develop workforce for our young families or someone that wants to upskill to be a chef. You know, maybe it's a time for changing jobs and you want to upskill to a different industry or you want to upskill to, you know, be a chef at some point. So, yes.
00:14:05
Speaker
really exciting that they're with us. Definitely. Jenny, your team works so closely with the workforce and business center to help connect all of the different businesses you work with, with all of
Engagement and Feedback in Town Halls
00:14:15
Speaker
the things that they offer.
00:14:16
Speaker
Can you give me a little one-on-one on what our workforce and work force and business center offers? Yes. Oh, you're, you're right. We work with them quite a lot. And Adams County really does have an exceptional workforce and business center.
00:14:29
Speaker
um both for employees seeking job training, upskilling. um You can do assessment testing. Of course, they'll help with resume writing, et cetera. But they offer some really neat things for employers as well. um In fact, I know, so talking about some of our emerging industries, healthcare and bioscience are really important for us um economically. And I think they have a healthcare industry um job fair coming up.
00:14:54
Speaker
But They will work with employers to do you know a particular hiring event for a specific company. They'll also do those larger industry functions. There are just so many ways that they're willing to work um with our employers.
00:15:09
Speaker
um They are also doing quite a lot in that pre-apprenticeship space. In fact, we have an intern in CED right now that is because of our partnership with Workforce Business Center. That's so fun to hear. yeah It's so fun to hear.
00:15:21
Speaker
So both of you have had the opportunity to participate in several town halls this year that we've held. We've hosted a couple, um one over the phone, one focused on our community concerns, and now this one for our businesses.
00:15:33
Speaker
um What have we learned from doing all these different formats and really focusing on different issues and different different communities? What do you think has been kind of our lessons learned so far this year?
00:15:44
Speaker
So the lessons learned, and then I'll pass it on to Jenny, um is during our telephone town hall, also a residential town hall, is that people wanted to engage.
00:15:55
Speaker
They didn't necessarily want canned presentation from the county of what the county is up to. They wanted to talk about what was of concern for them and their families. And so we completely changed the format So we open up with introductions and we go right to Q&A. So we did that with our residential town hall, which was in person, our business town hall, which was also in person.
00:16:18
Speaker
And it really is a nice discussion to have. It wasn't one-off, like, i don't want to ask this question because no one else is experiencing this. And in both cases, there are residents that were experiencing similar things that questions being asked. Same thing with our business community.
00:16:35
Speaker
So we're going to stay with this format. um it was You know, it was one of the residents that suggested it and we're open to all kinds of suggestions on what works for community. I mean, we have in our mind what we think will work, but really we want um this to be a value add to your evenings. We know that you're either getting off of work or you're doing homework with your kids or um taking time out of your schedule. That night it was a Bronco game, so we wanted to get everyone off and back to their home so they can watch that kickoff.
00:17:04
Speaker
But we want to be make sure that the time we spend together is really a value to everyone involved. So the format's been great. And Jenny, ah you've been participating in all of these as well. You've been, you've been there with all of us and you, you're always ready to jump in and answer any questions that come up. And I can't, I think that we've had questions for you at all. probably so Well, I mean, I think, you know, community engagement is really the heart of what we do in community and economic development. So we're, we're used to that.
00:17:30
Speaker
um And I think something we've learned, whether it's through the town halls or, or variety of other engagement opportunities is the need for variety, right? We have a, A lot of different um communities across Adams County creating a variety of ways to interact with us is is important to get a good representation.
00:17:49
Speaker
um But I think also, you know, as you said, people were really craving it. And think we know in this increasingly polarized climate that bringing people together just for discussion and conversation does so much to to bring the temperature down and allow us to have meaningful exchange of ideas.
00:18:08
Speaker
I really like what you said about people were really craving it. And we actually know that they were. We've been really intentional about getting the data and getting the information on this. We've been doing follow-up surveys. We did another follow-up. Not only did we do the Mentimeter and the live polling, but we did another follow-up survey afterward to get more information from people after the business town hall.
00:18:28
Speaker
make sure that this is working for them. You know, we're really trying to make sure that that these are what people need out of the way that they're reaching their their leaders and their county staff.
00:18:39
Speaker
And I think that what really strikes me about all this is it feels that there's a lot of intentionality behind this whole approach with town halls, um from holding them on specific themes for specific audiences to data collection, um the mix of in-person and virtual formats.
00:18:56
Speaker
Why the county being so deliberate in this moment about town hall strategy? It's a priority of the board is to have continuous engagement um with our residents, with our businesses, with our partners, um with industry. So it's a, first of all, it's a priority.
00:19:14
Speaker
And then to offer all of these different formats is that we live differently. Now we have the technology, if it's easiest for you to join a telephone town hall, is it is it easier for you to hop on your cell phone and just listen in to something that's being live streamed where you don't necessarily need to be in person?
00:19:34
Speaker
Or we have even commissioners that love to be in person, love the engagement. um that's Our business is to be available and accessible. um So we have offered the in-person as well, but it's really to meet everyone where they're at in their schedule, you know, to meet them where they're at. That's the biggest take home for us. We just did, we just left an employee. um It wasn't an employee town hall. it was an all employee meeting.
00:20:01
Speaker
And for the first time we offered um an online all employee, you know, for the employees to join. And the participation, i would say looking at the room was probably three to four times the um had joined us online. And that was, you know, looking back five and six years, that was not an option. We were not thinking that way. So it's also just been the change in technology and the acceptance of technology and how we handle town halls and really leaning into into that, the different technologies available to us.
Developing Future Policies through Engagement
00:20:34
Speaker
So I do want to tie it back into but the business town hall, but I think that this does apply across the board to every audience we're reaching. These events are about authentic and meaningful connection.
00:20:46
Speaker
And why think was it so important for us to make that space for our business community? But of the board. Why is it so important for us to make this space for every community we're engaging with? Every community that we're engaging with, um it was important for the business community. a lot of them may not be voters in Adams County, but they support and they provide jobs.
00:21:06
Speaker
And what a challenge, what's challenging to them? Housing is a challenge for them. If you can't You don't have employees if, you know, a transportation barrier is, you know, transportation is a barrier to employment.
00:21:19
Speaker
It's important that people live close to their jobs. So that's one thing. We also offer translation services. So whether that um is in person, so we have live translation occurring that's been available.
00:21:33
Speaker
So it really important. At the heart of it is how can we help everyone in community businesses this go around our residents, our employees is that what works best for them. We're here to solve, you know, create policy, um be thoughtful about our policy and our implementation of what is going to be.
00:21:56
Speaker
you know, the best for Adams County, not just today and tomorrow, but in five years, in 10 years. And that really starts with open communication with the need. And we can't always assess the need. We need people, um businesses to share with us, like, what is, what are their challenges? What are they seeing? What are the trends that they're seeing? So it's been a great, um great to have the town halls in different formats. Yeah.
00:22:22
Speaker
I think in a lot of spaces, people don't feel like they have that access, that access to their elected officials, to the folks who are running and the departments and doing the work on the ground. Do you feel like you've seen over the last couple years of doing these intentional formats, you feel like you're seeing people responding and feeling like they have access to our elected officials, to our staff and really responding in a way that shows that it's working?
00:22:50
Speaker
Absolutely. um i just had a phone call with one of the business businesses that attended the town hall um that had an idea. And so i said, you know, the but the county hasn't considered that. let's I'll run it up the chain. I'll talk to the board, the county manager.
00:23:05
Speaker
So it is access. And then I think there's a level of comfort there. um of having these smaller gatherings rather than we're on, you know, maybe a telephone town hall or you'll see us at an event and you don't want to either interrupt or there's a line. at at times we see a lot of people at the fair and you can't just, you you know, walk up and see us because there's many, many people standing around.
00:23:29
Speaker
So it's really that intimacy of having one-on-one meaningful conversation with business and our residents. And that's how we got to Q&A town hall is just having these one-on-one conversations. And so I really appreciate um greatly residents and our staff and businesses for taking time out of their evenings to attend in person or to join us online.
00:23:54
Speaker
It's been great. And Jenny, your teams, do you feel like your teams are seeing the benefits of people coming to them and, and feeling like they have that access to them? Absolutely. I mean, you know, when,
00:24:07
Speaker
it it creates a more casual interaction, right? And so then, um and i'm I'm thinking of a resident that I met back when I had just started um at a business meeting.
00:24:18
Speaker
He didn't have any particular issue at the time. He was just there, but we we spoke and made a face-to-face connection. And then several years later, as he was working through a rezoning of his property, it felt much less intimidating for him, right? He's the Jenny, we we talked before, and it just makes it easier for people. I mean, government is overwhelming oftentimes to our residents. we We do it every day, um but sometimes they only interact with us once every few years, if that. And so I think personalizing it really, really does help.
Future of Town Halls and Community Collaboration
00:24:53
Speaker
So looking ahead, how do you see this idea of this model of engagement being so collaborative, focused, shaping how we connect with our residents and our businesses in the future?
00:25:05
Speaker
So we're going to continue the town halls. um We're already planning another one for the end of this year. um Fingers crossed, weather permitting always, you know, as we head into the winter.
00:25:16
Speaker
um and we're also looking forward to 2026. There's a number of topics top of mind, whether it's our schools, our cities, our nonprofit community, what federal policy, how does that affect now currently the federal shutdown? How does that affect um service delivery, ah those people that, you know, our residents um that could be affected by a federal estate program. ah We're seeing state and federal challenges with budget.
00:25:44
Speaker
And so we're going to continue to have these conversations where here's the network to to to support our residents. So it's really fantastic that the board is in alignment to have more town halls coming up.
00:25:58
Speaker
Awesome. Well, thank you both for being here today. This conversation has been really fun. um It's exciting to think about how we're continuing to make Adams County a place where every person can access their officials, can access the people who are doing the work every day and can participate in these important conversations and know that their questions are being answered and their voices are being heard and all of this.
00:26:19
Speaker
And they can actually be a part of their local government and they can be a tangible part of that. They know that they're, they're, You're seeing that difference being made every day.
Conclusion and Call to Action
00:26:29
Speaker
um And thank you to everyone who attended our business town hall and shared your thoughts with us. If you missed it, you can still catch the highlights on our YouTube channel at Adams County CO government or on our website at Adams County CO dot gov slash town hall.
00:26:46
Speaker
Stay tuned for more details on ways to engage with us at future town halls um and more ways just to engage with us in general to to talk to your officials and to folks in your departments. um You can find us on Facebook and X at Adams County Gov, on Instagram at Adams County Co, and on LinkedIn at Adams-County.
00:27:06
Speaker
For Commissioner Lynn Baca and Jenny Hall, I'm Nikki Wellender. And thanks for tuning in to All in Adams. All in Adams. That's a wrap for this episode of All in Adams. Thank you for joining us as we explore the people, programs, and the policies that make Adams County a great place to live, work, and thrive.
00:27:24
Speaker
If you enjoyed the show, be sure to subscribe and share with your friends, neighbors, and colleagues. Have a topic you'd like us to cover? Let us know. We're all in for bringing you the stories that matter most.
00:27:35
Speaker
Until next time, take care of each other and stay connected with us on Facebook, Instagram, Nextdoor, and X. We're all in, Adams, and we're all in for you.