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Longmont, Colorado, has built an economy with both technical ambition and a strong sense of place. Aerospace, bioscience, and advanced manufacturing businesses connect the city to markets far beyond the Front Range. Locally owned shops, restaurants, and makers give it a character that belongs to Longmont. Its investment in NextLight, a community-owned fiber network, reflects a willingness to build the infrastructure that residents and businesses need to succeed.
That combination makes Longmont an exciting place to work. So does the coalition stepping forward to shape its future.
CivicSol is partnering with the City of Longmont, the Longmont Economic Development Partnership, the Longmont Area Chamber of Commerce, and the Longmont Downtown Development Authority to develop Advance Longmont 3.0. Working together through the Longmont Impact Committee, the four partners are taking shared ownership of the community’s next economic strategy and the work of putting it into practice.
The moment
Longmont has a strong foundation for this next chapter. Its earlier Advance Longmont strategies established an industry focus and then broadened the conversation to include talent, transportation, placemaking, and collaboration. Recent research from CU Boulder and a detailed assessment of the organizations supporting local businesses give the community a clearer understanding of what it has to build on.
The opportunity now is to bring that knowledge into a shared set of choices. Longmont competes for investment and talent along a Front Range corridor rich in research, technology, and industry. Its next strategy must be specific about where it can distinguish itself and what it needs to do to compete.
Some of the ingredients are already close at hand. Front Range Community College’s Center for Integrated Manufacturing prepares people for technical careers in Longmont. TinkerMill provides tools and shared knowledge for makers and product developers. The City’s electric utility and NextLight connect public investment directly to the conditions for doing business. Understanding how these assets support particular industries will help the partners decide where to concentrate their efforts.
Just as important is the locally owned economy. Longmont’s independent businesses contribute to the appeal of downtown and commercial areas across the city. As the community grows, the strategy will examine what helps those businesses stay, adapt, and participate in new opportunities, including connections to larger employers through purchasing, services, and innovation.
The civic solution
The partnership behind Advance Longmont 3.0 brings these questions together. The City, EDP, Chamber, and Downtown Development Authority see different parts of the economy every day. Each has relationships and responsibilities the others need. Their commitment to developing and carrying out the strategy as equal participants is central to the work.
CivicSol will help the partners determine where a coordinated effort can make the greatest difference. We will build on CU Boulder’s industry analysis, compare Longmont with relevant competitors, and examine which opportunities fit its talent, available space, and infrastructure. That will give the coalition a basis for choosing where to support expansion, pursue investment, and address barriers to growth.
Business owners and residents will help shape those choices. Our engagement will reach from downtown to North Main, Village at the Peaks, and Frances Street, bringing local experience into interviews, sector roundtables, and an open community and business forum. A dedicated discussion with locally owned businesses will give their needs and ambitions a clear place in the strategy.
Those conversations will also help connect the research to decisions. If an industry opportunity depends on specialized workers, which education and employer partners need to act? If a local business is ready to expand, what is standing in its way? If several organizations provide support, how easily can an owner find the right help?
We will work through responsibility and capacity as the priorities develop. The final strategy will include a Year One Work Plan that identifies who leads each action, what support is needed, and how progress will be measured. The coalition will have a practical way to turn shared priorities into the work of its individual organizations.
The impact
Advance Longmont 3.0 will give the partners a common direction for strengthening the economy they share. It will connect decisions about industry growth with support for local enterprise, preparation for careers, and the places that make Longmont an attractive community in which to live and work.
The ambition is for more of Longmont’s strengths to translate into opportunity: an employer finding room to expand, a local supplier reaching a new customer, or a resident gaining the skills to build a career close to home.
We are excited to work with partners who bring both pride in Longmont and a shared responsibility for its future. This community has invested in its own capabilities. Advance Longmont 3.0 is an opportunity to build on that commitment together.
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