Gunnison Valley Business Growth Strategy
On August 6, 2018, twenty-five residents from the Gunnison Valley in Colorado assembled to explore the possible implications, both positive and negative, of a proposed strategic objective.  In teams of five, with each team facilitated by an Implications Wheel Facilitator, they explored the following possibility: 

What are the possible implications of succeeding with a community goal to grow, retain, attract and/or build (GRAB) 5 companies with $10 million in annual gross revenue over the next 7 years?

Details of the "center" are below.  The exploration resulted in 163 specific implications, scored from the perspective of "People Who Want to Continue Living in the Gunnison Valley."

Contact us for a copy of the exploration.



Details of the Center

ICELab is an emerging economic development hub for the Gunnison Valley and within its infancy seeks to define the future through targeted community goals.   An overarching goal ICELab wishes to explore is MISSION GRAB 5-10-7. 
(GRAB=grow, retain, attract, build).

This mission serves as an overarching 7-year strategic goal, which would then drive smaller annual subset goals along the way. The value proposition is, as follows:

- Companies with $10 million in revenue pay an average salary of $70k and employ approx. 30 people

- The success of this could mean a significant increase in median income and approximately 150 new jobs

- Companies at this size push the edge on what is foreseeably sustainable within our remote location

- There is sufficient commercial space available to be developed

- There is an available workforce with both the University students who desire to intern and/or remain in Gunnison County

- There is a potential workforce with the overall population growth in Colorado

- New Federal Opportunity Zone (10 year) program aligns with additional funding mechanisms

- ICELab and its programs (SBDC consulting, Accelerator, Incubator) are already in place to support business development

​- Partnerships are in place to support the effort an a local, regional, and statewide level