TNCC: Telluride’s Regional Economic Futures Task Force presents at Library: Next?

Telluride’s Regional Economic Futures Task Force is the offspring of two meetings held in 2008 and 2009: The Regional Sustainability Visioning Process and Thinking Outside the Box Canyon. Its purpose: under the banner of The New Community Coalition, REFTF is meant to help our extended community identify the best – read elegant, efficient and effective – ways to support and enhance our environment and our economy, which are joined at the hip. There is a clear need to leverage existing businesses, while identifying gap opportunities that allow people to remain part of a community that becomes multigenerational.

On Monday, January 11, the Regional Economic Futures Task Force, led by spokesperson/county commissioner Joan May, presented its initial conclusions to a group of about 40 locals at Telluride’s Wilkinson Public Library. The idea: gain consensus and move forward to begin work on an action plan that addresses both short- and long-term goals. And why not: the Inter-Gov committee lauded the exact same Power Point in December.

What actually happened is the room opted for the full ride, not just the T-shirt. Yes, we are a visitor-based economy – and no one is suggesting otherwise – but we are and can be so much more.

Chad Scothorn of the Cosmo summed it up this way. The Telluride region needs to “…do what we are doing better, and figure out what we’re not doing and how to do it.” TNCC’s Sustainability Coordinator Kris Holstrom added: “And we need to figure out what we are not doing and what we actually want to do.”

Click the “play” button and listen to Joan May’s podcast for a review and next steps.