The Colorado General Assembly convenes Wednesday, and theColorado Springs Chamber of Commerce has listed its top prioritiesfor the session.
Among them: raising the Springs' profile among lawmakers,advocating for the military and the addition of Fort Carson aviationbrigade, improving K-12 education, bolstering the local sports sceneand reducing regulatory burdens on small businesses.
The chamber isn't necessarily focused on individual pieces oflegislation, said Chamber President of Government Affairs and PublicPolicy Stephannie Finley. Instead, 'we're going to use othervehicles -- amendments, resolutions -- to move our policy forward,'she said.
The chamber's legislative goals are developed with the help of a35-member committee that meets weekly.
'We don't do this in a vacuum,' Finely said. 'These folks spend al ot of time -- and they are very passionate.'
The effort to raise the city's profile appears to be off to agood start, Finely said.
Gov.-elect John Hickenlooper named several members of theSprings' business community in his transition team -- CountyCommissioner Sallie Clark, El Pomar CEO Bill Hybl and Springs BlackChamber President Jim Stewart.
'We want to see a greater collaboration,' Finley said. 'We're allon the same team, but it seems that people get stuck with whatthey're doing -- and it's very Denver-centric. That stretch ofhighway seems to make the Springs invisible.'
The military
The chamber is hoping to focus the rest of the state's attentionon the importance of the military economy -- and to ask for thelegislature's help in expanding the military presence in Colorado.
'We have to be vigilant about protecting our military assets,'Finley said. 'BRAC (Base Realignment and Closure) is coming, thereare already rumors of it. We have to also work to grow it, lettingpeople know how helpful the military is to the economy.'
Maintaining the military's presence in the state -- along withthe defense contractors that support the Department of Defense -- isvital to the state's economy.
'We've already heard some negative rumblings from the Boulderarea,' she said, 'so it's our job to educate people about what themilitary does for the state.'
The chamber will be asking the General Assembly for a resolutionsupporting the Army's proposal to move a combat aviation brigade toFort Carson. The move could bring an additional 3,000 soldiers tothe Springs, and add tens of millions of dollars in constructionprojects.
'We're going to be asking our elected officials to work ongetting that brigade here,' she said. 'That's a major component ofour strategy.'
Education
The chamber's legislative committee viewed the United Way'srecently issued quality of life indicators annual report with alarm -- particularly the section about education.
That's why the chamber plans to encourage lawmakers to take the'long view,' Finley said.
'We want to make sure they are looking at all areas of education -- early-childhood education, third-grade reading scores, those arepredictors of success and for problems later in life. We want toexplore ways to cut those problems off at the pass,' she said.
The chamber isn't pushing any specific piece of educationlegislation, but hopes to influence any K-12 legislation towardimproving reading scores in Springs schools.
Sports
One of the suggestions from a 2009 Angelou Economics' Operation6035 study was to focus on the amateur sports industry in theSprings. While it won't have any legislation concerning amateursports, the chamber is pushing the sports economy as a vehicle toimprove the community's economy.
'We're going to possibly try some amendments or work with somedifferent actions that will spur incentives here,' Finley said.'We're going to work to build on having the USOC (United StatesOlympic Committee) here and to bring some other sports groups toColorado.'
The new director of state tourism could help in those efforts,promoting national sporting events that are annually held in theSprings, she said.
'We also are going to focus on tourism in general,' Finley said.'We're really looking at things that could affect businessespositively here.'
Regulatory reform
As it typically does, the chamber will once again push for lessregulation of business this year.
'Our business people feel like they have a lot of challengesright now,' Finley said. 'And they don't want to have to deal withany more regulation, one more piece of paper. It really adds up.'
The uncertainty of upcoming regulation is keeping companies fromhiring, she said.
'This is something everyone could agree on,' she said. 'Theburden of the paperwork, the additive nature of it, it's too muchfor businesses.'
