Gunnison Valley leaders work to create future

Officials return from workshop with new insight

What will Gunnison County look like in 10, 20 or 50 years? That’s the question officials and stakeholders are hoping to answer as they begin to move forward with a visioning process that many hope will result in a comprehensive plan for economic development in the region.

“Recently there has been a fair amount of change within the leadership and offices of Gunnison County,” said County Community Planner Cathie Pagano. “With all the new enthusiasm and insight it’s an opportune time for relationship building and developing a common vision for the economic future of the area.”
Rather than wading into this planning process unguided, Gunnison County applied for and received a grant to be used for the education and professional development of a group of local leaders. Last month, this group took part in a series of presentations, discussions and forums at the Community Builders Leadership Institute that were designed to enhance the ability of the group to form lasting collaborations and partnerships.
Held in Glenwood Springs, the institute was an intensive three-day community prosperity workshop hosted by the Sonoran Institute, which strives to “enable community decisions and public policies that respect the land and people of western North America.”
“We walked away from the conference having learned a lot,” said Gunnison Community Development Director Russ Forrest. “Speakers focused on taking stock of what you currently have and what the local strengths are. There was an emphasis on main street versus big box development and getting creative about the assets you have versus getting new industries to come into communities. There is a growing trend in mountain communities where we’re seeing more and more individuals and small businesses coming in and making a go of things because of increased travel access and Internet connectivity.”
Local attendees included Gunnison County Commissioner Jonathan Houck; several members of the county community development and planning team; city of Gunnison Councilmember Carolyn Riggs; town of Crested Butte Manager Todd Crossett; and others.
“What our team was able to come away with has the potential to be a valley-wide game changer,” said Riggs. “We have such amazing assets in the Gunnison Valley and we will begin with that foundation for economic and community prosperity that has never been tackled to this degree."
“Our future prosperity is reliant upon local leaders stepping up to unify our community,” Riggs continued. “We also recognize that we need to invite and engage the Gunnison Valley community to successfully create a pathway forward that enhances our economic prosperity. We are in a great position to do just that.”
Forrest said the group walked away from the meeting with a better understanding of the interdependence of the stakeholders and communities in the Gunnison Valley.
“We’re now looking at how to create an inclusive process that we can use as we develop a common vision for the county,” said Forrest. “We’ve already had some success with collaborative groups within the county like the RTA, the Housing Authority and others. Now we need to figure out what model will work best for this process.”
As Forrest and others work to determine how best to move forward, they are also keeping their eyes on a few action items, one of which is creating an objective set of economic indicators that can be used to evaluate how the county is doing in terms of economic trends, real estate, sales, travel, and tourism.
“We’re really focusing on what we have and what’s already been approved for development within the already existing amenities,” said Forrest. “We’re looking at how do we mix preexisting agreements and development to create better synergy for the area as a whole.”
A more tangible item in the group’s sights is the revisiting of the Discovery Center in Gunnison, which was initially proposed in 2005.
“The possible construction of the Discovery Center never really went away, but it also hasn’t received any attention in recent years,” said Houck.
“We’re approaching the state as a group and asking what it would take to make it happen. The idea is if they saw the interest coming from a valley-wide group there might be an increased likelihood for response. We want things to either move forward or be resolved.”
Participants from the Community Builders Leadership Institute hope to meet several times in the months ahead as they continue to plan for the future, and Houck will be chairing the group to insure it continues to move forward.
“The goal here is to not spend a ton of time in meetings and conversation, but to actually get things done,” he said.
For more information visit the  Gunnison County Community Development website at www.gunnisoncounty.org.