I see people biking, hiking, rafting, climbing and so many other things in the community every day, but what I am not seeing is videos being posted on our facebook page to win yourself a cool prize!

All videos have to be filmed somewhere in Mesa County, and the deadline is July 27, 2012.

A couple weeks ago we were joking with Chris about him lending us a cruiser to make downtown errands go so much faster…well he came through in a big way! He called us and told us to pick up our bike! He even threw in a bike chain!

So now, I happily ride through downtown going to the bank, checking out proofs at our printing place, and whatever else needs to be accomplished. It has made life a lot easier and more fun… especially when it is a beautiful sunny day with a slight breeze rolling though.
Here is a picture of our little beauty…I don’t think she has a name, so if you have any suggestions let us know! Thanks again Chris!!

All judges were required to show up between 2 and 2:30pm to get their packets and meet other judges in their group. My judging group was filled with familiar faces including Tim Fry from Mountain Racing Products as well as a member of the GJEP board and Julie Morey from the Grand Junction Small Business Development Center. Our facilitator, Bill McCracken from WCCC, found us in the crowd and lead us outside. Mind you I hadn’t realized that it was going to be so hot in the month of April, I was wearing a black pant suit and it was about 89 degrees outside.  This year there were 340 students who participated in the Student Showcase and they were scattered throughout the campus with tables set up inside and out. All of these students were split into specific categories and tracks, there were 22 different categories/tracks. The track that I was asked to judge for was the Career and Technical Programs Track.

We had six projects to judge from 3pm to 5pm; a Networked Robotic Arm, Pottery Kiln Heat Sensor and Remote Control Application, Shauenburg Coal Conveyor Prototype, Small Engine Dual Fuel Conversion (CNG & Gasoline), CNG/Gasoline Dual-Fuel Conversion Car and a Modular Transportation System. All of the projects were very interesting and the student groups did such a good job and worked really hard, some more than others. Each of the project groups had 10 minutes to present their project to the judges and 5 minutes for questions. Once we had finished listening to all of the project teams, Tim , Julie and I sat down under a shaded table, finally some reprieve from the heat, and spent about an hour discussing the projects, trying to narrow down the winner. We eventually settled on the Small Engine Dual Fuel Conversion (CNG & Gasoline) project, the project team had a solid presentation with great visuals and a great project in itself. Julie and I then headed into the University Center to the awards ceremony to watch 22 different project teams receive accolades from their peers and gift certificates for their hard work.

Other than the blistering heat, the afternoon was  delightful and very inventive. I have always been and will always be a proponent of innovation and creativity. It is exciting to see student use their ingenuity and creativity, not for a grade, but to move the human race forward.  As an alumni of CMU, it is exhilarating to watch the University encourage their students to create new knowledge and/or re-innovate and improve upon old knowledge. I hope I am invited to judge again next year.

~Mariah Zerbe
Business Development Manager

Thanks to one of our board members, we were able to book Lincoln Tower and be the FIRST official meeting/event held in the brand new structure. It is a beautiful building that gives a great view of Grand Junction, the Grand Mesa and the National Monument. I wish we could have all our meetings there, but they have already gotten great response renting the place out, so I don’t think that will be a possibility

The meeting went pretty well too! GJEP reported outreach efforts and our first quarter prospect report. We have had more activity in this first quarter than all of last year, AND the quality of prospects has been more targeted within our goal industries.

Kelly and Mariah

April 5^th was Local Government day for the Mesa County Leadership Class. Executive Director, Kelly Flenniken and Business Development Manager, Mariah Zerbe toured various local government facilities including the new Mesa County offices (off of 1^st and Main), the Mesa County Landfill, Mesa County Animal Services, and the new Grand Junction Fire Department Firehouse.

View from Lincoln Tower

Some of the panel topics included

• John Sluder and Bill McCracken from WCCC discussing their Proof of Concept, which lets students get real world experience solving problems for real world companies and lets them invent their own ideas
• Manufacturing outdoor gear, hosted by Tim Fry (Mountain Racing Products), Thaddeus Shrader (Bonsai Design Inc.) and Mike Mahoney (Honey Skateboards). They all discussed how they got in to their respective outdoor industries, challenges along the way, and the importance of taking risks along the way.
• Marketing in the outdoor industry, hosted by Sarah Allen (RSW Partners), Kelly Flenniken (GJEP), Rick Taggart (CMU) and Kenneth “Hap” Klopp, Founder of The North Face. They discussed and answered questions regarding marketing specifically for the outdoor industry.

The lunch keynote speaker was Hap Klopp. He talked about how his company began and what he still hopes to achieve through business opportunities and ventures. He encouraged young entrepreneurs to take chances in business because failure is not the worst thing that will happen, not learning from your failure is. Hap stressed the fact that there are no overnight successes. Long hours and plenty of mistakes along the way is the way to learn and grow your business.

The turnout for Entrepreneurship Day was immense and raised money for scholarships in the business department at Colorado Mesa University. It was a fun day filled with lots of information and stories of entrepreneurs in the area.

The discussions were about “Access to Capitol – What are banks actually looking for?” and Employment resources and training available in the area.

The banking panel mentioned the importance of having a business plan for new companies looking to gain some capitol. For new businesses without a financial track record, this is a good way for banks to gauge how much thought has been put into a new business. It also helps the business owner look at their competition and strategize what they will do in order to gain the edge. The Business Incubator can be a great help for anyone looking to brush up on their business planning skills. Contact them for some guidance.

The Employment Resource panel mentioned all the FREE services offered by the Mesa County Workforce Center. If you are looking to hire new employees they will post your jobs, sort through all the resumes and skill test candidates to ensure that they will be a perfect fit for your business. Western Colorado Community College stressed the flexibility of their programming. If there is a community need to train future employees in a specific skill they will be more than happy to discuss new program additions to meet that need. These resources and more are available to Mesa county at no charge.

Stay posted for future installment announcements for a New Way of Doing Business. Each set in the series will focus on different aspects/problem areas for local business and what resources are available to help them out.

The seminar will have presentations covering the following areas

• Update on Mesa County Economic Development  Plan
• Your Business Partners—Economic Development  Partners
• “Access to Capital ‐ What are banks actually looking for?”
• Employment Resources/Training

Remember, there is more information on our website.

Also, Team time trials will be held in the morning of the 24th at K and 21 Road. The weekend will finish out with a road race out on the Reeder mesa on Sunday the 25th.

We would love to see you out there supporting this great event and all the athletes that will be participating.

The state of Colorado reported that employers added 19,500 jobs in January 2012. It puts Colorado in the top five states in the U.S. that had job growth in January.

Economy.com forcasts that Colorado’s job growth rate will be 1.9% ahead of the national average. That growth rate puts Colorado in the top 10 states nationwide having job growth.

Job growth is always exciting and GJEP is working diligently to ensure we continue onward and upward!