My Favorite Party of the Year
This is one of my favorite times of year at the Chamber, because Unity in the Community is here! Make sure your calendar is marked for this Friday, August 28, from 4 to 8 pm at 4th and Kimbark streets. Unity has sold out again this year, which means it will be a full and fun filled night with all your Longmont friends.
If you have never been, Unity is Longmont’s biggest block party: with more than 140 local businesses and nonprofits, local food and drink, and live music from Last Men on Earth starting at 6:30pm. We have some fun new additions this year, including roller skating, alongside returning favorites like NextLight’s silent disco and the climbing wall presented by the Dawson Academy. The Dunk Tank is back too, sponsored by Swire Coca-Cola. Council Members Matthew Popkin and Alex Kalkhofer will once again take the seat above the water, facing a long line of eager kids ready for their shot at dunking them.
Unity has several traditions, one is to highlight the nonprofits doing essential work in our community. This year, as in previous years, 50% of all drink sales at the event will go directly to Unity Funds the Community, the Chamber’s Non Profit Account at Longmont Community Foundation. This year funds go to Recovery Cafe, Veterans Community Project, and the Aspen Center for Child Development. Special thanks to High Plains Bank and Wal-Mart for their generous support to this fund as well.
The SideDish podcast with hosts Annie Larner and Brady Steffl also makes a return at the Public Policy Plaza, sponsored by Platte River Power Authority. Another long time Unity tradition is to invite public officials and candidates, many of whom will appear on the podcast along with proponents of several ballot questions on the November ballot. If you want to hear directly from the people shaping local and regional policy, stop by.
Looking Ahead: Our September 4 Policy Meeting
Unity is a celebration, but it sits alongside the work our Policy Committee does year-round on behalf of the business community. Policy Committee members will discuss and make two important board recommendations on the Public Safety Tax and the early childcare question, Brighter Start Boulder County on Friday, September 4.
Good public safety and access to affordable, quality childcare are not optional extras. They are foundational to the kind of community where our employees want to live, raise families, and build careers. Businesses cannot thrive if their workforce does not feel safe, and they cannot retain talent if working parents cannot find childcare they can afford. These are workforce issues as much as they are community issues.
At the same time, our members keep telling us that costs keep climbing, and that the cumulative weight of new taxes, fees, and regulations is becoming harder to absorb. That is the balance our Policy Committee and every voter this fall has to weigh any time a new revenue measure comes forward: real community need on one side, and the real financial pressure businesses bear.
I wrote a few months ago about the Colorado Chamber’s report finding that Colorado is now the 6th most regulated state in the country. A recent Colorado Politics article reinforces that story from the cost of living side, reporting that Colorado is now the fourth most expensive state in the country to live in. That same reporting points back to the Colorado Chamber’s finding that the state’s high cost of living has been driven in large part by policies requiring more environmental, energy, labor, and employment regulation, many of which place unfunded mandates on businesses. That is the backdrop in which our Policy Committee evaluates every new proposal, no matter how worthy the underlying goal.
Our September 4 meeting will also bring a broader look at governance in Boulder County. Commissioner Ashley Stolzmann and Boulder County Treasurer candidate Rachel Friend will join us to talk about Big Tent Boulder County and the question of whether to increase the number of county commissioners.
Your Voice on Ballot Questions Impacting Sales and Property Taxes
Reminder! There is a link to a quick survey on the Public Safety and Brighter Start Boulder County ballot questions in your latest Chamber Enews. The Chamber always considers property and sales tax increases carefully. Your responses and comments will be shared anonymously with the Policy Committee and will be a great help as they review all the information. If you missed the survey earlier, here is a link:
I hope to see you downtown on August 28 for Unity!
Scott Cook President & CEO, Longmont Area Chamber of Commerce
