Fremont Economic Development Corporation (Fedc) Announces 'First 50'

CAÑON CITY, Colo., Nov. 12, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- Fremont Economic Development Corporation, a 501c6 private not-for-profit focused on economic development in Fremont County and the Upper Arkansas region of Colorado, today announced a job creation milestone on their 2019-2020 program. As of October, over 50 new jobs have been created by participating businesses. The success of FEDC and the Upper Arkansas Sector Partnership programs have generated coverage in Forbes magazine and a recent visit from Jovita Carranza, 26^th Administrator of the US Small Business Administration. The Upper Arkansas region of Colorado includes Fremont, Custer, Chaffee, and Lake Counties.

"We are grateful for the time and attention of leaders like Administrator Carranza and our state officials to reimagine what can be done outside of the metro areas in Colorado," said Rob Brown, Executive Director, FEDC. "Our results are demonstrating that even small investments in rural areas can create meaningful impact. Rural prosperity begins when communities activate the hidden capacity in the talented people that are living and working there but not yet participating in the process"

In mid-2019, Brown announced FEDC's accelerated investment in their award winning, TechSTART program and newly launched WellSTART program.

"For many companies, large or small, 2020 has ushered in unprecedented changes to the way they do business. From abandoning traditional office space and embracing remote working, to reevaluating staffing needs, upskilling current employees, and deploying non-traditional recruitment practices, being nimble remains the only constant," said Brown. "We chose to partner with Colorado innovators in the tech and wellness sectors who could see the potential in our rural communities and were willing to take the risk and make an investment in our people."

Topping the scoreboard with the creation of more than 20 new jobs is Fremont County based Second-61, a managed services technology provider that delivers critical technology, engineering, and support services to small-to-large government and commercial sectors.

"Second-61 has taken a very proactive, hands-on approach to developing a local workforce of professionals who appreciate the work-life-balance and a greater sense of community that's synonymous with rural Colorado," said Founder and President Chris Koehn. "By focusing on workforce development, job creation, and industry diversification, we are creating high quality jobs from rural communities while offering impactful value to the national markets."

Following Second-61 in job creation are Unbridled Connect, Mammoth Networks, 3 Rocks Engineering, and Pax8. As one of Denver's fastest-growing private companies, Pax8, an award-winning distributor of cloud-based technology, is committed to job creation in Colorado. Since making its debut as one of the regions newest employers, Pax8 has hired full-time employees across multiple tech roles. In a recent interview with the Denver Business Journal, Susan Mitnick, Pax8's Chief Human Resources Officer said, "As we expand into rural communities, we evaluate what pieces they have in place to support hiring and what level of assistance they need from us. The Upper Arkansas region is a good place for us to start because they've established the framework and investment to make employees and employers successful."

Optimum Guidance Behavior Consulting is a healthcare sector business located in the Annex building of Emergent Campus, who utilizes Applied Behavior Analysis (ABA) therapy to provide evaluations and direct treatment to younger people. The company has recently reported experiencing similar success.

"As a small business that provides critical behavioral services for many families in Fremont County, Optimum Guidance Behavior Consulting welcomes the opportunity to serve a greater number of children and young adults who experience developmental delays, trauma, and other behavioral concerns within our community," said Founder and President, Carrie Myers. "With the recent addition of 8 therapists and technicians, we can focus more of our time on working with families to acquire life skills, decrease dangerous or inappropriate behavior, and ultimately move closer to overall independence. Our recent expansion from home services to our very own center within the Emergent Campus has brought us the opportunity to meet the more advanced social needs of our clients."

Resources

Member of President Trump's cabinet visits Florence's Emergent Campus (Canon City Daily Record)

Denver cloud tech co. pushes forward with rural hiring, sees benefits of its PPP loan (Denver Business Journal)

We Need To Strengthen Rural America If We Want To Unify Our Country (Forbes)

FEDC TechSTART - An Innovation Catalyst for Rural Colorado (home page)

Colorado's Upper Arkansas Tech Sector Partnership (Linkedin article)

PCC named National Center of Academic Excellence for Cyber Defense Education (Pueblo Community College)

Canon City High School Awarded 4th Pathways in Technology Early College High School (PTECH) Grant in Colorado! (Linkedin article)

About Fremont Economic Development Corporation (FEDC)

Fremont Economic Development Corporation is a professional economic development organization focused directly on business attraction, retention and expansion in Fremont County, Colorado. With an established and growing network of business, academic and governmental partners, we directly assist companies with competitive location or expansion projects by connecting them with the right people, the appropriate resources and the most meaningful and relevant information. FEDC's TechSTART program is an award-winning tech sector co-working community, creating an innovation catalyst for rural Colorado. TechSTART facilitates the Upper Arkansas Technology Sector Partnership, working to develop a public and private sector tech ecosystem in Fremont, Custer, Chaffee, and Lake Counties. www.fremontedc.com

For press inquiries, please contact Jason Veatch, [email protected]

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SOURCE Fremont Economic Development Corporation

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