Sentinel Lakewood
Jefferson County, Colorado • Volume 89, Issue 45
June 20, 2013
A Colorado Community Media Publication
ourlakewoodnews.com
EDC aims to create jobs New economic development initiative ‘Forward Jeffco’ launched By Glenn Wallace
gwallace@ourcoloradonews.com Jefferson County Economic Development Corporation publicly launched a new initiative last week — “Forward Jeffco” — with the goal of creating 7,500 new jobs in the county. To accomplish that level of economic development, the EDC is attempting to raise $3.9 million in additional revenue from government and business sponsors. In 2012, Jeffco EDC had an operating budget of about $900,000 and claimed 860 jobs created or retained. The official kick-off, which comes after months of behind-the-scenes sponsorship discussions, occurred June 11 at the MillerCoors Golden Brewery. Jeffco EDC board chair Fred Baker started the kick-off presentation, saying that the corporation’s last five-yearplan lacked a lot needed funding. “What we were able to do this time is take a more intelligent approach,” Baker said. Forward Jeffco has five listed strategic components: • More aggressive targeting of companies in desired industries; • Create new jobs by helping existing businesses grow; • Stimulate new business, including small and home-based businesses, by pulling together entrepreneur resources; • Identify and satisfy workforce development needs; • Aggressively advocate for business at all levels of government. According to Jeffco EDC CEO Kevin McCasky, part of the additional funds will quickly go to hiring another staff member to travel nationally, and internationally, to market the county to businesses in “identified cluster markets” that he hopes to bring in. Those cluster markets include aerospace/aviation, energy, bioscience, enabling technologies, and consumer products and creative services. More than $2 million of the Forward Jeffco monetary goal has been reached with contributions from about 25 sources, according to McCasky. Contributors include the City of Lakewood, Exempla Lutheran Medical Center, Xcel Energy, Lockheed Martin, and Jefferson County Public Schools. Arvada Mayor Marc Williams said he was proud that his city and city council had been among the first to pledge their support for the initiative, providing up to $50,000 a year, for the next five years. “It’s needed to raise the bar, so that we can attain the primary jobs and the economic development that this county needs and deserves,” Williams said. The Jeffco EDC has traditionally been funded 50/50 by government and business sources. Williams said that part of the Jeffco Forward initiative would be to shift that ratio, so that the business community would fund 70 percent, which had been accomplished for the Arvada area.
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Mike Cody, left, and Mike Juarez, right, make up Mike Squared Mosaics, who did the 20-panel mural at the Garrison Street W Rail station. Photos by Clarke Reader
A mosaic of the times Art at Garrison Station tells region’s story By Clarke Reader
creader@ourcoloradonews.com Public art at each station along the W Rail line was a key way of giving the stations a unique identity, and all the artists involved brought their own vision to the work. Mike Cody and Mike Juarez are the two Mikes behind Mike Squared Mosaics, which makes custom mosaic murals, and created the work on the Garrison Station. Named “The Winds of Change” the 20-panel mural takes a look at the history of the area, going all the way back to when the front range was under the Western Inland Sea. “We start out with fish, snails and progress through the Jurassic period with dinosaurs all the way through to modern times,” Juarez said. “We wanted something the Eiber neighborhood liked, and we presented it to them and they gave us the approval.” According to Cody, the pair started
The mosaic mural adds color to walls at the transit station.
The 20-panel mosaic mural tells the story of the region from prehistoric to modern times. work on the mural in December, by breaking up the work into sections, creating the mosaics, and then taking it to the site in April. Stone, tile, glass, and pottery were
all used in the mosaics to give color and style to the work. There are at least 4,000 tiles cut by hand by Cody and Juarez in the mural. Much of the material is donated to the artists, and they use any kind of repurposed material they can in their work. “We like to get the community to donate materials to the project,” Juarez said. “People from the Garrison area did, and we think it adds another level when the community is part of the process.” It took around three weeks to get the mural up on the wall at the station, according to Cody. “You don’t see a lot of mosaics in the Denver area, and we like adding color to places that would otherwise be a little drab looking,” Juarez said. Mike Squared started in 2001, creating custom work and pieces for art shows and galleries before expanding to larger projects. In the past three years, Mike Squared has become more interested in doing public art pieces, and has had work on display in Thornton, Highlands Ranch, Longmont and Boulder. For more information on Mike Squared, visit www.mikesquaredmosaics.com.