Cortez urged to lead growth efforts

Cortez urged to lead growth efforts

Sept. 27, 2001

A VACATED BUILDING stands empty on Cortez’s Main Street on Wednesday. The city council is trying to decide what type of economic-development efforts to mount to bring new businesses to the county and support existing enterprises.

By Janelle Holden
journal staff writer

The pressure to continue a formal economic-development program in Montezuma County fell on the shoulders of the Cortez City Council Tuesday night.

The 12-member economic-development steering committee is recommending the city hire an economic-development specialist to promote job growth and retention county-wide. The steering committee formed after the Montezuma County Economic Development Council decided to fold in July.

"Without any other funding capability in the county at the present time, I feel that this is the best method for proceeding. We cannot sit and wait for two or three years for something else to occur," City Manager Hal Shepherd wrote the council in a memo. Shepherd serves as chair of the steering committee and was at a city manager’s conference in Salt Lake City on Tuesday.

The city was the primary public backer of the former economic council, contributing $60,000 annually. The council was formed in 1987 by a group of private investors, and in 1994, the city of Cortez and other local public entities agreed to contribute to the organization, which has since remained a private corporation.

At a July public meeting, the development council tentatively agreed to fold its public-private partnership in the wake of the resignation of its director, Bill Argo, effective July 31.

Several private businesses have also pledged their support for the new endeavor, and the steering committee believes $20,000 could be raised from private entities in the county.

Dan Avery, a member of the steering committee, said the effort needs a specialist before much else can occur.

"There’s no way the group can figure it all out," said Avery. "There’s way too much involved. We need to find someone to lead the effort."

Avery suggested the council look for someone to bring the business community together. "The skill we really need is networking and coalition-building, ’cause it has to be community-wide," said Avery.

The economic specialist would operate under Shepherd’s direction, working first on helping current businesses retain employees and expand, and then on luring new businesses to Montezuma County.

The specialist would also be supervised by a county-wide advisory board. Shepherd is recommending a $40,000-a-year salary with benefits for the specialist, and an office at the Welcome Center in Cortez.

Shepherd also recommended the city run the program for at least three years, then consider turning it over to another entity.

Some members of the council expressed doubts that the program could work any better than it has in the past.

"I’m just wondering what we’ll be getting for $40,000," said council member Jim Herrick at the council’s workshop. "In today’s management world, that’s nothing."

"But we’ve paid a lot more and gotten nothing," responded council member Cheryl Baker.

The city’s 2002 budget is expected to be tight, because sales-tax revenues are down.

Avery and others stressed that economic development is crucial when the economy starts to falter, and said private businesses would invest when they saw some success.

"Yes, we want private money, but we also need the involvement from the private sector," explained Avery, who said involvement meant time.

Herrick conceded that with the threat of war looming, there may never be a better time to invest in rural America, but questioned whether business owners in town would turn over three-year financial statements to a stranger for analysis.

"Business people in this community hold their cards unbelievably tight. Lots of times you don’t know someone’s in trouble until it’s too late," said Herrick.

Mayor Joe Keck pointed out that even though the specialist would be hired to help the entire county, the city would benefit from sales-tax revenues.

Council member Harold Foster said he thinks development is happening at a faster rate in Cortez than any other city of its size on the Western Slope.

"Somebody must be doing something right. It is something to be proud of. I mean, the town is expanding," said Foster.