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John Hickenlooper on Corporations
Democratic Presidential Challenger (withdrew, Aug. 2019); CO Governor
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Pro-business: cut regulations, launched retraining website
Was known as a pro-business governor, working to slim down the state's regulatory environment.
He also worked to bring companies to Denver, created an apprentice program for high schoolers and launched a website to retrain displaced workers.
Source: Axios.com "What you need to know about 2020"
, Mar 26, 2019
Market must allow entry to new businesses
For several decades now people in the middle class and poor haven't had the security and opportunity that our economic system used to create for them. What is the reason why we're seeing such a large number decline in the number of startups?
Maybe they're looking at that landscape and saying these companies are too big I can't get in. We have to make sure that we have a competitive system whereby little guys feel they've got an honest, a decent chance to succeed.
Source: CBS Face the Nation 2019 interviews: 2020 Democratic primary
, Mar 10, 2019
Fund $10M program to support rural business
But to reinvigorate more of our smaller communities, we need to incentivize companies and rural entrepreneurs, or the urban ones who want to be rural, to take a chance and start a business where they're needed the most.
That's why we just announced a ten-million-dollar Rural Venture Fund to focus equity investment and access to capital in rural parts of the state, similar to what they've done along the front range.
Source: 2018 Colorado State of the State address
, Jan 11, 2018
5-year initiative to support startup businesses
Startup Colorado is a five-year initiative to organize and convene startups around the state. We're expanding our Blueprint and Rural Jumpstart economic development programs.
Maybe we need to expand the Jumpstart incentive to seven years? We're backstopping loans for rural markets that allow businesses and startups to get more access to capital. Maybe we should do more?
Working closely with business and education leaders, in a public-private partnership, Colorado is igniting an apprenticeship renaissance with Careerwise. We're connecting companies, talent, K-12 schools, community colleges and training centers.
Within a decade we want to see twenty-thousand students per year receiving college credit, developing skills, and learning how business works.
Source: 2018 State of the State address to the Colorado legislature
, Jan 11, 2018
AdWatch: I'm no politician; I make beer & build restaurants
The first of our 30-second ads aired on March 18, 2003. Just as the ad hit the air, a snowstorm hit Denver. A lot of people were snowed in. A lot of people watched a lot of television. In other words, a lot of people saw our first ad.Did I mention
that the ads themselves were rather unusual? We called the first one "Suit."
The opening shot is of me in a clothing store in a western shirt trying on a cowboy hat; then I enter and exit a dressing room a number of times, trying on different
clothes, different suits. All the while a voiceover. My voice. "Everybody says I need better clothes. They want me to look more mayoral. The fact is, I'm not a professional politician." I continue to narrate, pointing out that I was a laid-off geologist
and after that I spent 15 years "making beer, building restaurants, and creating jobs in Denver. For me, economic development isn't a campaign slogan. It's what I do."
"And right now, we have to find a way to get the job done for less money."
Source: 2003 Ad-Watch in "The Opposite of Woe," p.228-9
, May 24, 2016
Colorado Blueprint: build a business friendly environment
After we took office three years ago we launched a strategy to be a thoughtful and supportive partner with the business community. We reached out and built relationships with people in 14 regions from around the state, and based on what we heard, we
designed a Colorado Blueprint that focused on six core objectives:- Build a business friendly environment
- Increase access to capital
- Educate and train the workforce of tomorrow
- Retain, grow, recruit companies
- Cultivate innovation &
technology
- Create a stronger Colorado brand.
This past year we launched the Rural Economic Development Grant Program, and are in the process of awarding $3 million to our rural communities. We launched the Advanced Industries Accelerator Program
making seed capital available to start-up companies in aerospace, biosciences, energy and tech. We created a unified brand logo, which is almost universally loved. 117 of Colorado's companies are already using it.
Source: 2014 State of the State address to Colorado Legislature
, Jan 9, 2014
Regulatory impact statement on all new legislation
In the days ahead, I would like to see if we could look at adding a regulatory impact statement or something like a regulatory impact statement to new legislation.
Just as we require a fiscal note for every new bill that estimates the costs to state government, we could also include an estimation of the cost to businesses of additional regulations.
We also hope that every bill you consider passing will be viewed through the lens of its impact on our economic growth.
This doesn't mean we compromise our standards or put our land, air or water at risk, but it does mean that we'll keep a fierce and even relentless focus on jobs.
Source: 2011 Colorado State of the State Address
, Jan 13, 2011
Page last updated: Dec 15, 2019