John Cody on Longmont's Economy

The Daily Camera's online chat yesterday with Longmont Area Economic Council Director John Cody is brief but still offers clear insight into his strategy for retaining and encouraging the growth of primary employers in Longmont. Anyone not familiar with that term should know their community is more beholden to such companies than they may wish to believe.

John discussed the role of economic incentives: they aren't the be-all lure, just the final deal maker to bring companies over the tipping point:

There is often a a perception that incentives play a huge role in economic development. This is typically untrue. Incentives usually act as a tie breaker on a deal. But the advice I would give is to focus incentives on the type of activity you want too encourage. For example, in Longmont we focus on higher paying jobs and R&D activity. In addition to expressing the community's interest in a given company, targeted incentives help to grow your economy in the way you want it to grow.

Read the full transcript of his chat here.