The Economic Development Council of Colorado announced the 2018 EDIE award recipients, recognizing economic development excellence during its annual Drive|Lead|Succeed Conference at The Ridgeline Hotel.
“Many aspects of Colorado’s economic success can be attributed to the hard work, dedication, and contributions of communities, institutions and individuals that our awardees represent,” said Jeremy Riemann, EDCC board chair.
Among the award winners were the city of Wheat Ridge and town of Castle Rock.
Small Community of the Year – Wheat Ridge
The award for Small Community of the Year was presented to the city of Wheat Ridge, which has been very active in economic development over the past 36 months with much of that activity culminating in 2018. The city has nearly 100,000 square feet of new retail space, 400 apartments and 9,000 sf of maker space all under construction or planned for the community and supported by funding through the urban renewal authority. Another 85-plus-acre development on the city’s west side, Clear Creek Crossing, will break ground this month, bringing to fruition more than three years of work on this important economic development project for Wheat Ridge.
Large Community of the Year – Castle Rock
The award for Large Community of the Year was presented to the town of Castle Rock for demonstrating a strong commitment to economic development through vision and execution. The community fostered two $60 million mixed-use projects in downtown Castle Rock as well as partnered on the Promenade at Castle Rock project, adding 1 million sf of retail and $300 million in investment, which has become one of the top five retail projects in the U.S. Adding to its list of accomplishments, the town of Castle Rock invested $3 million of economic development funds into a partnership with Colorado State University, Arapahoe Community College and the Douglas County School District to create the 100,000-sf Castle Rock Collaboration Campus, which will house an office for Innosphere in partnership with the Denver South Economic Development Partnership.
