Steve is the Economic Development Manager for the City of Wheat Ridge and the Executive Director of the City’s Urban Renewal Authority. Steve promotes intelligent growth for the community while promoting the values of Wheat Ridge. He has been with the City for almost 11 years. Steve has been an integral part of new development in Wheat Ridge through the City’s Renewal Wheat Ridge, the City’s Urban Renewal Authority. This work has allowed Wheat Ridge to see unprecedented City growth over the past 36 months with the development of new housing options, shopping centers, and the creation of a new downtown along 38th Avenue. Steve was born and raised in California and relocated to the Denver area in 2011 where he lives with his wife Peggy.

DiAnn Butler is the Grand County Economic Development Coordinator. Her initiatives over the past two years are community based, grassroots efforts that focus on growing and strengthening the people and economy of Grand County. With a background of 21 years in owning a private business and strong ties to Colorado, DiAnn is an advocate for business entrepreneurs.

Tara is currently one of the Best & Brightest Interns serving as Assistant City Managers in local governments around the state. In addition to her role in the City Manager’s office, Tara also serves the City of Trinidad as the Chairman of the Corazon de Trinidad Creative District, she heads up Trinidad’s Main Street Program and is in charge of the City’s Certified Local Government and Urban Renewal Authority activities. Tara is also the Director of the Colorado Welcome Center in Trinidad and works closely with the Colorado Tourism Office. She is facilitating over $2.5 million in grant funding and is the City’s liaison to many community groups throughout the Southern Colorado region. She recently served two years as the President of the Board of Directors of the Trinidad and Las Animas County Chamber of Commerce and spent the past three years on the Board of the Southern Colorado Repertory Theatre. Tara is one of the newest members of the Downtown Colorado Inc. Board and believes strongly in DCI’s role in supporting small rural communities such as Trinidad. Tara will finish her Master’s Degree from CU Denver this year in Public Policy and Local Government.

A professional who is committed to urban renewal, economic development, robust growth and sustainable strategic initiatives, using comprehensive leadership and communication skill sets. A problem-solver with experience in commercial and residential real estate brokerage, marketing and management, development and legislative and regulatory assessments and evaluations. Collaborative team and project leader, accomplished manager, mediator and presenter, offering financial and budget oversight across a broad spectrum. Politically savvy in local and state politics and someone who takes pride in forging and protecting relationships throughout the community. A seasoned board and committee member who understands board structure and governance and someone who is well versed in ethics and mediation.

Justin Vause is a Commercial Loan Officer at Colorado Housing and Finance Authority. In that role he market’s CHFAs small business lending programs, coordinates with lending partners, evaluates projects for eligibility and assists applicants throughout the application phase. Justin has a Master’s degree in International Development from the University of Denver with a concentration in micro-finance. Prior to working with CHFA Justin spent four years working for Accion, a non-profit micro-lender operating in Colorado.

Troy Bernberg joined Northland Securities as a 15-year public finance veteran, responsible for covering Colorado, theRockyMountain West, as well as the Midwest. Troy has worked on over $1 billion in financings for a variety of borrowers including municipalities, counties, special districts, education, healthcare, as well as 501(c)(3) organizations. Troy assists his clients from the plan of finance to closing, structuring the most cost-effective and efficient transaction to meets his clients’ needs. This includes work on revenue bonds (sales tax, water, wastewater, etc.), certificates of participation/lease revenue bonds, and tax increment financing, both on a tax- exempt and taxable basis. Troy also brings creativity to an engagement and is proud to have worked on the first forward delivery refunding in Colorado in 2014 as well as a unique TIF transaction for the United States Olympic Museum. Troy is a member of a variety of industry organizations including the Colorado Municipal League (CML), Downtown Colorado, Inc. (DCI), Special District Association (SDA), and the Colorado Government Finance Officers Association (CGFOA), with whom he’s served as a conference speaker on several occasions. Troy is also past president of the Colorado Municipal Bond Dealers Association. Troy received a B.S. degree in Business Administration (Finance Emphasis) from the Leeds School of Business, University of Colorado – Boulder. He holds FINRA Series 7 General Securities Representative and Series 63 Uniform Securities Agent Exam registrations.

Katherine Correll is known for her ability to spark creativity and bring the energy to make positive change and empower ideas. Kat has been honored to lead the Downtown Colorado, Inc. team and share her philosophy that each challenge is an opportunity waiting to be found. Under Kat’s direction, the organization tripled membership and programming. DCI has expanded services for Business Improvement Districts, Downtown Development Authorities, and Urban Renewal Authorities. DCI restructured the Colorado Main Street Program for economic development through historic preservation and assisted in establishing that as a State of Colorado program. Kat established the Downtown Capacity Building AmeriCorps VISTA Program to help Colorado's smallest communities expand human capacity. She built the Colorado Challenge Accelerator Program to help communities take their plans to action, increase capacity, and build local ecosystems. Prior to coming to Downtown Colorado, Inc. she served as the Country Director for American Councils for International Education, overseeing professional development programming and administering US State Department assistance for the Republic of Moldova. Prior to that, she worked on a Local government Reform Project managed by The Urban Institute. She is a proud alumna of New York University, Rutgers University, United States Peace Corps, and AmeriCorps VISTA. She is born and raised in Colorado and is proud to work with Colorado communities of all sizes.

Jason Dennison leads the Downtown Fort Collins Business Association (DBA) in fulfilling its mission of advancing the prosperity and vitality of downtown. Jason became the director of the DBA in May of 2015 and previously served in the same capacity in downtown Sioux Falls, Denver’s LoDo District and in historic downtown Arvada, Colorado. He now guides the DBA’s vision and strategy, supervises staff and ensures the organization’s fiscal health. Jason has been an active IDA member since 2010, has served on the annual conference task force and currently serves on the research committee and IDA Board of Directors.

Jennifer Q. Henninger serves as the Director of Community Development for the City of Littleton. Jennifer has broadbased experience in both the public and private sectors in the profession of community planning. She joined RG and Associates in 2011 where she assisted small towns in Colorado in the areas of grant writing and administration, economic development, community engagement, and development review. She earned a master’s in public administration from the University of Colorado at Denver and a bachelor of science in city and regional planning from Cornell University.

Rick Kron, is a director of the law firm of Spencer Fane in Denver. He holds a Bachelor of Urban Planning and a B.A. in Political Science from the University of Illinois-Urbana (1975), an M.S. in Urban and Regional Planning from the University of Wisconsin-Madison (1977) and a J.D. from the University of Colorado-Boulder (1987). Rick worked for several years in community energy research at Argonne National Laboratory prior to, and during the early part of, law school. Since joining Grimshaw & Harring, P.C. in 1987, his practice has concentrated almost exclusively on special districts, business improvement districts, intergovernmental authorities, and the thrill of Colorado election law.

As a senior associate with Progressive Urban Management Associates, Erin Lyng provides market research, community engagement, and strategic planning support for P.U.M.A.’s projects. Representative projects include 1) managing statewide outreach and technical assistance for the Colorado Fresh Food Financing Fund, a public-private fund that has invested over $3 million in loans and grants to fund healthy food retailers in underserved communities throughout the State; 2) Developing a range of strategic plans from actions plans for Main Street organizations to economic development plans for rural counties such as Prowers County, CO. 3) Producing feasibility studies for historic properties, such as the Tabor Opera House in Leadville, CO, to inform reuse options and longevity. 4) Preparing and analyzing market data for a diverse range of communities from Norfolk, VA, to Colorado Springs, CO. 5) Researching case studies and best practices for topics ranging from public markets to transit alternatives to historic theaters. 6) Engaging the community through facilitated focus groups, interviews, outreach events, and surveys.

Ann Morgenthaler was born, raised, and educated in Colorado. She attended Colorado College where she received a Bachelor of Arts degree in political science, with a minor in art history. After working in art and design in Santa Fe, New Mexico, and at the Nelson Atkins Museum of Art in Kansas City, Missouri, she moved back to her beloved home state. Her work with Denver non-profit organizations led her to pursue and obtain a master’s degree in public administration from the University of Colorado at Denver. Ann interned with the Town of Silverton and the City of Ouray, where she stayed on as the city’s community development coordinator. Most recently, Ann served the Town of Telluride where she was the building and planning director. Ann enjoys skiing, hiking, and attending her longstanding book club. She is a member of the City of Ouray Planning Commission and is on the Imogene Pass Run board of directors. Ann lives with her partner, Cory Jackson, and their cat Cleo.

Brandon is an economic and urban planning professional who enjoys analyzing complex development patterns and figuring out solutions to existing barriers. Since 2016, he has led and managed development of short and long-range DDA plans with an emphasis on economic revitalization and redevelopment in the Grand Junction DDA District. Brandon serves as an advocate for the DDA District and as a liaison to businesses, property owners, governmental officials and staff, community organizations and others. Prior to this role, Branson served aa an Economic Development Specialist with Pueblo County. In that role, Brandon worked with economic gardening, GIS analysis, incentive programs, and managing buy local efforts.

Terri Takata-Smith is an experienced marketing and PR strategist with over 20 years in the industry and 10 years marketing downtown Boulder. She specializes in developing and implementing comprehensive marketing, promotional & communication plans and campaigns. As the Vice President of Marketing & Communications for the Downtown Boulder Partnership (DBP), Takata-Smith provides strategic leadership and management of the organizations’ initiatives – both brand and event marketing. Throughout her ten years with DBP, Downtown Boulder has launched an extremely successful and well-received social media program, responsive website and other creative initiatives keeping Downtown Boulder at the forefront of innovative marketing and communications among downtown districts. Takata-Smith earned a Bachelor’s of Arts in Advertising degree from Pepperdine University in Malibu, California. Her career history includes agency work, corporate and non-profit. She is a Colorado native and volunteers as a team manager for both of her sons’ Broomfield Blast competitive soccer teams.

Based in the firm's Denver office, Carolynne is a Shareholder in Brownstein Hyatt Farber Schreck. She works in the Land Use, Government Relations, Real Estate and Natural Resources groups. Ms. White has a deep background in land use issues, municipal and administrative law, real estate transactions, water and natural resource matters, and state and local legislative law. Carolynne's practice focuses primarily on the zoning and entitlement process, with an emphasis on complex projects.