By Marilee Johnson, South Platte Sentinal News Editor

Sterling will be the site of one of several town hall meetings by the Governor’s Small Business Advisory Council being held throughout the state. Information from the meetings will be shared with the Governor’s Office.

The Sterling “Solution Session” will be held at Northeastern Junior College (NJC), Hays Student Center Room 230, from 9:30-11:30 a.m., on Thurs., Aug. 26. (RSVP to 970-352-3661 before Aug. 23.)

The town hall meeting is part of a series of meetings hosted by the Colorado Small Business Development Network.

“We are encouraging business owners, city and county officials, financial institutions and economic development to provide their experiences and ideas on how to develop solutions for barriers to success for small business owners,” said Heidi Zajic Eckland, Sterling Small Business Counselor.

Eckland works in the Sterling office for the Northeast-East Central Colorado Small Business Development Center, a resource center for small businesses in the northeast quadrant of the state. Free business assistance and information are available to all small businesses, whether existing or new.

Currently, Eckland serves the Sterling area community as a business counselor one day per week and additional resources are available if necessary. According to Eckland, “The program’s mission is to foster successful start-up of new businesses as well as growth and development of new and existing businesses through services provided.”

The services provided are to help small businesses maximize their potential through three areas of focus: Free business counseling, education through seminars and webinars and assistance in obtaining capital. Support available to business owners includes: Access to small business resources and information through the state and national Small Business Development Center network; staff experience in starting, running and growing small business; staff experience in counseling small businesses in a variety of industries and stages of business; and strong support for clients and SBDC activities from local governments and private institutions.

The purpose of the town hall meeting next week is to brainstorm on solutions of barriers to success for small businesses owners. “Some of the barriers that many business owners are experiencing are due to the current financial and legislative climate,” Eckland said. “Revenues are down and access to capital is very difficult.” She said the solutions to look at may include workforce readiness and “How the SBDC can help in these and other areas for both new and existing businesses.” She can be reached at 520-7357.

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By Marilee Johnson, South Platte Sentinel News Editor

The Logan County Economic Development Corporation is experiencing of bit of growth itself, prompting an office move and the need for additional staff. The organization is currently in the process of moving into a new office at 213 Main St. Executive Director Rich O’Connell expects his office to be set up by next week. In the meantime, O’Connell will be working between offices until the move is complete. O’Connell’s office was located in a donated space at Sterling City Hall in Centennial Square. O’Connell said the LCEDC has outgrown its space at City Hall since establishing there in 2004.

“We’re moving because we need some part-time help and we didn’t have room in our current office for an assistant,” he noted. The position opening will be posted in the next week or so, O’Connell said. The center will be looking for an economic development assistant with good organization, Internet and presentation skills. The position is expected to be part-time – 20 hours a week – to start.

“We’re growing,” O’Connell said. “The contacts and business that have been developed are requiring more attention than I can handle on my own now.” O’Connell added, “We have a lot of focus on downtown and we think it’s appropriate to be located down there. We’ll be near the (Logan County) Courthouse and the new Colorado State University (CSU) Engagement Center and we’ll be more accessible.”

The phone number (521-7196) will remain the same, but O’Connell said he expects a new Email address. “We will miss being in City Hall and we are very thankful for thatspace for the last six years,” O’Connell noted. “We had a good working relationship with the staff over there, but we are excited to grow into a larger space.”

The LCEDC is a not-for-profit corporation whose activities involving the promotion of Logan County are strongly endorsed by both public and private entities. There are 12 members of the board of directors representing various business sectors and communities and includes two City of Sterling City Council members and one Logan County Commissioner.

Additionally, an advisory board of 20 individuals who represent private business in Logan County also provides oversight and advice to LCEDC.

The LCEDC Board believes in balancing the expansion of existing businesses with growth from new businesses. The LCEDC has been involved in the Project Green/Logan County Industrial Park project which was recently revealed as Star Clean Oil. A development agreement was signed by the Logan County Commissioners on May 19. Star Clean Oil is planning to construct and operate an oil recycling facility on 50 acres of the new Logan County Industrial Park with an expected ground breaking in early 2011. The LCEDC will proceed with planning for a Public Improvement District (PID), applying for a Community Development Block Grant (CDBG) and hiring an engineering firm to plan the infrastructure improvements.

The LCEDC is one of the endorsing sponsors of a Redevelopment and Revitalization Regional Workshop held in Sterling this morning (Wednesday), presented by the Colorado Brownfields Foundation and the Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment. Brownfields are real property, the expansion, redevelopment, or reuse of which may be complicated by the presence or perceived presence of a hazardous substance, pollutant, or contaminant. Cleaning up and reinvesting in these infill sites reduces sprawl pressure, reuses rather than extends infrastructure, enables upgrading of buildings to green-build standards and allows for higher density development.

Redevelopment of brownfield sites stimulates investment in local economies and directly combats
blighting conditions. Brownfield sites offer reuse opportunities for both public and private investment. Colorado Brownfields Foundation (CBF) provides services to promote the cleanup and reuse of environmentally impaired sites and facilitate in-fill development. CBF seeks to create public benefits
that may include creating business-ready sites, stimulating investment in the local economy, directly combating community deterioration and/or preserving green space.

The workshop was geared to planners, investors, attorneys, brokers, bankers, students, community members, property owners, real estate professionals, environmental consultants, government officials/staff and developers.

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May 2010

The following summary provides a highlight of the various monthly activities for the Logan County Economic Development Corporation (“LCEDC”). All activities are not described in the summary, but rather some of the more visual activities of the LCEDC are presented.

General Meetings:

May 1- Rich O’Connell presented at the Wells Fargo Smart Money Financial Workshop.

May 5- I spoke at Rotary to describe the new Buxton CommunityID report, Dec. 2009.

May 6- As an Advisory Council member, I attended the SIFE competition presentation at NJC.

May 7-20- The negotiating team met daily to finalize the Development Agreement with Project Green. The Agreement was signed by the Board of Logan County Commissioners on May 19th. The prospect is now identified as Star Clean Oil, LLC.

May 13- The Joint Committee held its regular monthly meeting.

May 13- Jim Neblett and I met with several investors in the Star Clean Oil project.

May 17- I attended the ground-breaking ceremony for the new Blue Spruce dormitory NJC.

May 18- The negotiating team met in Denver to finalize the above-described Development Agreement.

May 20- I met with a businessman looking to acquire an existing business in Sterling.

May 23-26- A group of four board members attended the International Council of Shopping Centers (ICSC) convention in Las Vegas.

May 23-26- A group of three board members attended the American Wind Energy Association (AWEA) convention in Dallas.

Economic developments:

Project Green/ Logan County Industrial Park- The Logan County Commissioners signed the Development Agreement with Star Clean Oil, LLC, on May 19th. Although we are still required to maintain confidentiality on the details of this project, we can discuss the public information. Star Clean Oil is planning to construct and operate an oil recycling facility on 50 acres of the new Logan County Industrial Park. Because of the lengthy process acquiring the land, they have decided to delay breaking ground until early 2011. We will proceed with planning for a Public Improvement District (PID), applying for a Community Development Block Grant (CDBG) and hiring an engineering firm to plan the infrastructure improvements.

Rich O’Connell, along with Dan Long (LCEDC President), Loretta Davidson (Treasurer) and Sandy Glaser (Secretary), attended the ICSC conference in Las Vegas, NV. We have identified several retailers who have indicated a strong interest in re-locating new stores in Sterling, and we discussed their future plans. Another contact was the co-owner of the pad site located in front of Home Depot on West Main. Buxton Co. made meeting space available to us during the conference, and we were able to make new contacts as we visited the various retail and real estate broker display booths.

Jim Neblett, along with Lance Bolton and Leroy Whipkey, attended the AWEA conference in Dallas, TX. This wind energy conference is growing every year, and our group was able to meet with multiple companies who are interested in Logan County wind development. The Colorado Office of Economic Development and International Trade (OEDIT) sponsored a booth for the first time this year, and our group spent time there meeting with potential prospects. Our effort is to attract supply chain companies that will provide service and parts for the wind farms.

LCEDC has revised their committee structure and all LCEDC members and non-members are encouraged to pick a committee that is working in an area of economic development that interests them, and join our efforts to improve the economic climate in Logan County. The Committees and chairs for the working committees open for new participants are as follows:

• Asset Resources- Dan Long 526-8021
• Workforce Development- Sandy Glaser 522-5900
• Marketing and Communications- Rocky Joy 522-9010
• Targeted Prospect Development- Rob Nichols 522-9756
• Strategic Planning and Implementation- Lance Bolton 521-6607

Updates:

UPDATE 4/29/10: The City and its representatives have signed all the grant documents and delivered to the FAA for final approval of the airport runway extension. Bids are scheduled to go out soon thereafter and construction could start by mid-summer. There is an anticipated 90 days construction period, so the improvements should be completed this year. The FAA has approved a new GPS instrument approach and applications are in process to add this improvement. UPDATE 5/28/10: Bid openings for both the runway extension and apron improvements are scheduled for June 10th.

UPDATE (4/25/10): We have received final plan drawings from Bruce Glass, The Architects Group, for three different-sized buildings. We are ready to proceed on the next steps of: 1) approval by City and County building inspectors, and 2) sending the approved plans out for bid to several contractors. NO PROGRESS TO REPORT.

UPDATE (4/30/10): Colorado Highlands Wind, LLC, project north of Fleming continues as a viable project and the developers are working hard to finalize power purchase agreements (PPAs) and transmission issues. NO PROGRESS TO REPORT

UPDATE (4/30/10): East Cheyenne Underground Gas Storage is planning to begin construction and development of the gas storage facility this summer. NO PROGRESS TO REPORT.

UPDATE (4/30/10): BP Alternative Energy, LLC, has announced plans to construct an estimated 120 to 200 additional wind turbines and a 230KV transmission line at their Cedar Creek wind farm near Grover in Weld County. With the existing 267 turbines, this could double the total wind energy to 600MW, or enough to supply 190,000 homes. UPDATE 5/28/10: It was reported at AWEA that permits were approved for this project by Weld County.

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