From Tiny Towns to Big Wins: DCI’s 2024 Highlights

As we reflect on the past year, it’s clear that 2024 was a transformative year for Downtown Colorado, Inc. (DCI). From expanding our signature Challenge Program to strengthening rural communities, hosting insightful webinars, and fostering creative partnerships, we’ve been on a mission to empower Colorado communities to thrive. Whether through education, technical assistance, or on-the-ground initiatives, our work has focused on turning challenges into opportunities, building connections, and driving meaningful change. This blog highlights the incredible programs, projects, and collaborations that defined our year, and we’re thrilled to share these stories with you.

+ Turning Challenges into Opportunities all Year Long

DCI’s Challenge Program is a unique technical assistance program with a proven track record over seven years to transform community challenges into opportunities. In 2024, we expanded the program (by a lot) with not one but two cohorts and a lot more programming, tools, and resources. We were excited to develop a dashboard to showcase how the data can contribute to a community’s understanding of capacity and next steps. We have also built a Learning Management System for communities to access these tools as part of the Challenge program or as self-paced learning. It has revolutionized the way that our communities can learn and grow. If you would like to explore the Learning Management System, you can find more information here and get started!

The Colorado Challenge accelerator program is packed full of education, tools, and resources to help communities navigate redevelopment and brownfield challenges in their community. These are some of the expanded resources in the program:

• Redevelopment Educational Webinars. A series of 8 expert-led webinars covering key topics in community redevelopment, urban planning, and sustainable development.
• Community Capacity Assessment Dashboard. An interactive tool to assess and visualize a community’s strengths and development needs for effective resource allocation.
• Communication Toolkit. A resource with templates and best practices to support clear, transparent communication in community redevelopment projects.
• Community Profile. A detailed overview of a community’s demographics, assets, and challenges, providing key insights for development planning.
• Property Pitch Sheet. A concise document showcasing a property’s key attributes to attract potential investors, developers, and local buy in.
• Feasibility Review. An analysis of a redevelopment project’s viability, covering market demand, financial feasibility, and community impact.
• Example RFQs and Proforma. Sample Request for Qualifications (RFQs) and financial proforma templates to guide the procurement and evaluation process.
• Participation in the Annual Challenge Workshop. An interactive workshop where stakeholders collaborate to solve specific community redevelopment challenges.

Challenge Community Testimonials:

“Participating in the DCI Challenge Program was an incredible experience. The workshops and sessions provided practical insights into urban development and economic revitalization, directly applicable to our community’s needs. Collaborating with experts and other community members not only expanded my professional skills but also equipped us to evaluate ways to implement real and lasting changes. I am grateful for this opportunity and highly recommend the program to anyone looking to make a significant impact in their community.”

“If you want to gain tools, insight and critical knowledge on how make your biggest community and economic development projects come to life, then participate in the DCI Challenge. Its a great environment to learn what the first steps are to implement your community vision.”

If you are interested in learning more go to the Challenge Page, fill out the Community Vitality and Capacity Check, and contact us.

 

+ Building Stronger Rural Colorado Communities

In addition to the expansion of the Challenge Program, we were able to continue our support of rural communities around the state. The majority of our members are small communities with populations less than $20,000 and our rural work is very important to us. If your community is in need of support such as technical assistance, organizational management, TIF Training, business training, etc. reach out to Kylie at [email protected]. Here are some of the highlights.

• TOWN OF CENTER. DCI has been working with the Town of Center for many years and has shared many accomplishments with the entire team including Center Challenge Community participation, national design + planning team visits, activation events, many economic development and housing grants. One of the most recent accomplishments was forming a URA + RFQ for Development of attainable housing on the North 90 Acres that the town owns.
• BYWAY CREATIVE CORRIDOR PLANNING.DCI worked on an exciting project with the Peak to Peak Historic and Scenic Byway to activate the Byway Committee for Creative Alignment. This included Creative Corridor Case Studies that can be found here. We have been working with Byways the past couple of years and aligning their objects of tourism, preservation, and community engagement to create stronger organizations and communities.
• RETAIL DISPLAYS + CROSS COLLABORATION IN GRAND JUNCTION. In June, Downtown Grand Junction was pleased to showcase a retail workshop to share practical ideas for expanding the reach of your brand through visual and messaging cues to convey your brand experience and tell stories with digital and visual displays. The workshop yielded some great ideas to enhance the retail experience in Downtown Grand Junction.  A key idea was to review and assess events to understand the timing and whether the event is meant to build the community image, foster a downtown habit, or to support the retail stores. Aligning the events with the seasonal needs of businesses would increase the impact of events in strengthening the business community. Read more at the Event Recap here.
• FESTIVAL PARK DEVELOPMENT IN BLANCA. DCI has been assisting the Town of Blanca the past year to create some momentum and engagement around their downtown. The team identified the old festival park as a key point of activation in the Town. A key goal of the project will be the creation of a gateway, a unique space that will enhance the sense of place, and welcome visitors into Blanca’s downtown. The Blanca Festival Park project aims to invite community members to shape the design for a community gathering space to accompany the recent installation of an antique train engine. The actual construction of the first phase of the park is funded through a CDOT Revitalizing Main Street grant.
• TINY TOWNS AT CML.  Over sixty percent of Colorado communities have populations less than two thousand. These smaller communities or “Tiny Towns” face different challenges for getting things done. Downtown Colorado, Inc. held a talk at the Colorado Municipal League conference where we highlighted members of the Tiny Town Network, including municipal and community leadership from different Colorado regions, to share the tools, partnerships, and peer network that is building solutions for our smallest communities. Read more at the blog here.

+ From Policy to Collaboration: Webinars that Hit this Year

We’re proud to collaborate with incredible partners across the state, bringing you outstanding content and sharing the importance of building vibrant communities. Here’s a look at some of the webinars we created together this year.

• MANAGING SHORT TERM RENTALS. On May 22, DCI hosted a webinar in partnership with Economic and Planning Systems. Short-term Rentals (STRs) are a key addition to the lodging mix, especially in communities where there isn’t a robust hotel or motel stock. In these communities, STRs are a key component in allowing tourism to grow. The question is how to balance the practices and impacts on local affordable housing, supporting property owners in offsetting costs of ownership, and tourism as an economic driver. Read more on the event recap here.
• FUTURE OF DOWNTOWN MULTI-FUNCTIONALITY. On September 19, DCI hosted a webinar to explore as we explore the future of multifunctionality in our downtowns in partnership with the American Downtown Revitalization Review (ADRR).As we consider the future of downtowns, it is of growing importance to properly understand downtown functional districts. There is an increasing need for them to become more functionally diverse, but that will require an understanding of the array of economic functions upon which a downtown can be successfully based, where they should be located, how they should relate to each other, and how they should be packaged in the buildings that contain them. View the recording of the event here.
• STOP, COLLBOARATE, AND LISTEN. On September 11, DCI hosted a webinar with HeidiTown called Stop, Collaborate & Listen about how you as community managers, the movers, shakers and doers can create places to love. Heidi talked about ROE, Return on Emotion. She believes the topic of ROE needs to be top of mind in everything we do as Main Street managers, Visit directors, economic developers, etc. The equation is Joy + Trust + Belong = Return on Emotion.
• COLORADO PROPERTY TAX CHANGES. On October 1, DCI hosted a webinar with the Association of Colorado County Administrators (ACCA), Colorado City County Managers Association (CCCMA), and the Special District Association (SDA) for our presentation of the Property Tax is Changing webinar, with Carolynne White of Brownstein Hyatt Farber Schreck, as she reviewed recent Colorado property tax legislation. This presentation explored some questions about exactly how this will work and what tools and strategies may be available to clarify and implement the law. View the recording of the event here.

+ Downtown District Creativity

• CREATING A NEW DOWNTOWN – SUPERIOR CASE STUDY. Downtown Superior was the setting for an innovative new workshop Downtown Colorado, Inc. (DCI) hosted in partnership with member MIG, Inc. Economic Development directors and specialists, design professionals and developers enjoyed a tour of the new Superior Downtown development with an eye towards downtown placemaking, and assessing how the urban design and features of a downtown integrate with the local business needs. After a brief guided tour of the intentional design features in Downtown Superior, participants were able to dérive themselves, documenting their feelings and observations as they were drawn throughout the Downtown Superior planned area. Read more of Event Recap here.
• DCI METRO MOBILE TOUR- COLFAX, RINO, AND LODO: HOW BIDS, DDAS, AND URAS ARE SHAPING DENVER’S KEY CORRIDORS. Every year, DCI partners with Colorado Municipal League to get downtown professionals out of their offices and communities and on the road to see how other TIF districts get creative and partner for amazing projects. On August 22, Downtown Colorado, Inc. (DCI) and Colorado Municipal League (CML) presented an insightful tour that delved into the transformative impact of Business Improvement Districts (BIDs), Downtown Development Authorities (DDAs), and Urban Renewal Areas (URAs) on Denver’s urban landscape. The event provided a unique opportunity for Colorado communities to explore how these tools can be leveraged to achieve their own downtown development goals through effective public-private partnerships. Read more of Event Recap here.
• DCI + THE NEW DENVER BID COUNCIL. This year DCI and the Colfax BID spearheaded an effort to bring together all of the Business Improvement Districts in Denver to form an official Denver BID Council. DCI aims to bring together district professionals to share experience, best practices, and collaborate. This is an amazing step to increase these partnerships in Denver.

If you would like to partner on a presentation or event in 2024, reach out to us!

+ IN THE GAME: Playing Near the Four Corners

This year we headed to the southwest corner of the state to Durango. We had an amazing time experiencing the history of the Strater Hotel, the innovation of the Powerhouse Science Center, and the blocks and block of amazing shopping and food! We were excited to welcome amazing speakers like Jim Heid, Dr.Regina Lewis, Larisa Ortiz, and Kerry Siggins. The first half of the event was a deep dive into problem solving for communities, and the second half features cutting edge ideas around what is coming next for downtowns and our state.

Testimonial:

“2024 was my first In The Game experience, hosted in the enchanting City of Durango. I was excited about the destination but had a preexisting notion of what the conference might entail, assuming it would be like many ordinary conventions. I was wrong. In The Game, holistically, was one of the most outstanding and memorable professional events I’ve attended. DCI’s engaged team knew all of the attendees, facilitators, and speakers so personally. I was in complete awe of the genuine camaraderie and friendships that surfaced well above any formal, professional disposition commonly perceived at conferences. The content, format, events, and dine-arounds were thoughtful, fun and engaging. The esteemed roster of speakers and coaches showcased the talent draw and strength of DCI’s network. Attendees were immersed in Durango, experiencing first-hand what a historic, vibrant, and strong main street (and community) looks and feels like. My community has been working with DCI only for a few years. I’m enthusiastic to say they have converted me to a life-long partner. In The Game was just the boost and positive reinforcement my team and I needed to get back into that resilient do-er mindset. It was truly an impactful week, and I can’t wait for next year. Thank you, DCI.”

Register for IN THE GAME 2025 in Greeley here!

+ 2025 Look Forward

As we close the chapter on an impactful year, 2024 showcased the power of collaboration, innovation, and resilience in Colorado’s communities. These efforts have strengthened community connections, provided essential tools and education, and paved the way for vibrant, thriving downtowns across the state.

In 2025, we look forward to expanding our educational offering through the Learning Management System, continuing district and TIF education, expanding our partnerships with small developers around the state, and so much more! We look forward to seeing at upcoming travels and events. Thank you!