It was an honor to attend the Operation 6035 event at the Dusty Loo Bon Vivant Theater at UCCS if for no other reason than that the company was inspiring. Pam Shockley and Phil Lane gathered together, by my estimation, at least 100 business men & women, community leaders, and government officials for a short presentation and fundraiser. The bulk of the time was spent mingling with one another, sharing war stories about the state of our community, and proposing a host of solutions aimed at each person’s niche.
The presentation began with the usual role call by Shockley and a rather impressive group was in attendance: Mike Kazmierski and others from the Economic Development Corporation, Dave Csintyan and his team from the Colorado Springs Chamber of Commerce, Jan Martin and others from the Colorado Springs City Council, representatives from several chambers of commerce from the surrounding areas, the full Operation 6035 Implementation Team, heads of various Colleges at UCCS, Michael Semmens and others from El Pomar, and many respected business leaders I at least recognized by name if not by face. Whether the goal was to find the people with the money or to find the people interested and able to make a difference, the right folks were definitely in the room.
Lane, the volunteer executive director of Operation 6035, spoke about why he is convinced that events are lining up to prepare Colorado Springs for a “renaissance”. His energy and “let’s just do it” attitude are infectious and I’m personally looking forward to his leadership. He mentioned the dialogue the city has been having over the strong mayor proposal and the proposed restructuring of city revenue sources as being the kind of conversations that make things happen one way or another. He vowed not to research issues to death but that he and the Implementation Team will select 5 or 6 issues to be dealt with first and then to either do them or not. He also discussed point 1 of the Angelou Report that criticized the region for a failure to collaborate effectively. After doing his own due diligence, Lane says he sees plenty of collaboration and that it’s only ineffective because people either aren’t collaborating in the right way or on the right things.
Pike Powers, the man credited with the vision that helped Austin, TX become the city it is today and now the consultant hired to impart some of that same structure to the revitalization efforts of Colorado Springs, shared the highpoints of a good vision. In his opinion, a community must connect globally, statewide, and locally to be successful and he offered some inspiring video clips to drive his point home. He also called out some of the present leaders to discuss a couple of good projects in the works such as the joint summit of the areas chambers of commerce and the conference on energy. His presentation was commanding and yet humble and self-deprecating.
Shockley closed with the fundraising call, asking that donations be limited to $1,000 per person or company to allow more people to become tangibly invested. The fundraising goal is $100,000 to match the original funds pledged by El Pomar and will pay expenses for another year. Shockley is convinced that one or two of the issues currently being discussed by the team could be solved within the next 12 months.
I am inspired by the healthy turnout and that the focus of the Implementation Team is not on “fixing” the existing groups but instead on fostering collaboration between them and on filling the gaps that exist in our community’s connections globally, at the state level, and even locally. By checking their agendas at the door, I hope they will succeed in surmounting these challenges.
I am personally involved in several groups offering solutions to some of the issues raised in the Angelou Report. The Peak Venture Group’s Blue Spruce Project and Middle Market Entrepreneurs are both helping businesses grow and communicate with one another. Additionally, I’ve been reaching out to my peers in the “young professional” category to help them connect and find that transcendent cause in which to invest their intellectual and social capital. Small as these efforts are, I hope they will contribute to building a great community in Colorado Springs.
If you want to get involved, even in a small way, please don’t hesitate to call me at 719.579.9090.
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Etienne Hardre is a CPA with BiggsKofford, P.C. specializing in helping entrepreneurs answer these questions: How do I sell my business, buy a business, or grow my business?
