Date: 03/17/2010
Final
Briefing from the Office of Economic Development
HOUSE COMMITTEE ON BUSINESS AFFAIRS AND LABOR
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02:14 PM -- Briefing from the Office Economic Development
Alice Kotrlik, Deputy Director, Office Economic Development and International Trade (OEDIT), said the office has seen a lot of activity recently to help businesses with capital access. Matt Cheroutes, Director of Communications, OEDIT, explained that he acts as the legislative liaison and talked about some legislation that has come through from the office this session. Representative Middleton asked for some information for town hall meetings on the type of work the office is doing. Mr. Cheroutes talked about the various divisions in the office and said he would be happy to provide the information.
02:20 PM
Ms. Kotrlik talked about the Business and Finance Division and the Colorado Job Creation Performance Incentive Fund and distributed a handout (Attachment B). She mentioned that there is one more year of funding available for the program. Representative Rice asked how long the jobs are tracked. Ms. Kotrlik stated that they only track for the one year required by the statute. Representative Rice asked the OEDIT to follow-up with a sample of the jobs listed in the handout past the year requirement. Ms. Kotrlik also talked about the Enterprise Zone Program.
02:25 PM
Jeff Holwell, Director, Business Development Division, talked about businesses that contact him that want to locate their business in the state and the ones that contact him that are considering leaving and taking an offer with another state. He said since the beginning of the year, there has been 25 new active projects that they are courting, including renewable energy, aerospace, and biosicence, among others. Representative Rice asked how many of those were incentivised. He talked about one of the projects that was here on an incentive and the reasons why businesses choose Colorado. Representative Stephens asked what states Colorado loses businesses to. Mr. Holwell explained that the competition is in Texas and Arizona. Representative Bradford asked if they track factors that make us competitive with those states and whether it is available to the public. Mr. Holwell said it is available and it varies depending on the type of company, for example, an office location versus finding a location to open a manufacturing facility. He gave the example of a data center and talked about the importance of electric costs when they make a decision to locate somewhere. Representative Priola talked about the issue of power and said he had heard from a data center that moved to Wyoming that Colorado is 6 cents per kilowatt hour and Wyoming is 4 cents per kilowatt hour. Mr. Holwell responded and explained that electric costs vary around the state and gave some examples.
02:37 PM
Kelly Manning, State Director, Small Business Development Centers, talked about her division and distributed the Colorado Small Business Development Center (SBDC) Network Annual Report following report: http://growingspaces.com/community/wp-content/uploads/2010/02/SBDC-AR09-2-10-10.pdf
02:43 PM
Pam Reichert, Director, International Trade Office, talked about her division. She addressed the question of competitors and stated there are a lot of investors that are from other countries. Representative Middleton talked about the OEDIT's piece in the Denver Post. Representative Rice talked about Colorado being one of the top five states to return from the recession.
02:47 PM -- Kevin Shand, Director, Film, Television, and Media, talked about his division and distributed some articles (Attachment C). He talked about some recent projects that are in the works around the state. Representative Rice asked whether the Colorado Symphony has ever come down to the State Capitol and asked about having a potential video game display on the House Floor. Representative Liston asked about incentives that are offered. Mr. Shand responded and talked about other states' incentive programs as well.
03:09 PM
The committee adjourned.