To keep the business community informed, the Chamber will post on this site a collection of relevant documents** about Economic Development planning in Lyons. We will keep the Library updated. Some of these documents are fascinating. All of them are windows into the kind of economic future we can develop for the business community.
 

• Libraries at the Heart of Our Communities    (planning commision journal)
  Not only do libraries provide valuable services for residents of all ages, incomes, and ethnic backgrounds, but they can also inject a healthy dose of vitality into downtowns, main streets, and neighborhood centers. It’s important to recognize, however, that it’s not just big cities that benefit from libraries. In fact, smaller cities and towns may have even more to gain from having a thriving library as they don’t have the range of community gathering places that larger cities often have. (read more)

• Town Strategies    (recommendations adopted by the Board of Trustees)
  The Economic Development Committee, consisting of 34 volunteers, spent between 1200 and 1400 hours producing a large report in support of the attached 12 Economic Development recommendations which were then passed by the Board Of Trustees. These may be regarded as Lyons’ core economic development initiatives.

• Economic Development Report   (analysis by citizens)
  The Board Of Trustees and Town Administrator chartered a 34 member citizens’ task force to analyze force which spent between 1200 and 1400 hours on the task before producing a 100+ page analysis for consideration by town government. The report can be obtained from the town’s website through this link. The final recommendations, as adopted by the Board of Trustees can be obtained from the Town Strategies link above.

• Enhanced Library  (citizen’s suggestion)
  This memo summarizes the economic development impact a centrally located multi-media library can have for the community and suggests how establishment of a Library District could make such a benefit possible and affordable.

• Community Revitalization Partnership  (analysis by outside experts)
  The Community Revitalization Partnership, consisting of Colorado Economic Development Experts, visited the town, met with business people and property owners, reviewed town records and produced this fascinating summary of our problems and their cures.

• SECTION ONE: Financing Mechanisms  (opportunities for Lyons)
  (available options)  Colorado's Department Of Local Affairs provides this guide to highly productive financing mechanisms. These tools are used in nearly every municipality but will be new to Lyons. The first 12 pages are heavy reading. Unless you like bureaucratic writing, you can skip this section and go to the next.

• SECTION TWO: Financing Mechanisms  (opportunities for Lyons)
  (available options)  The grids on pages 14 through 18 explain the essentials of the report cited in SECTION ONE above in simple, clear language. These are the various mechanisms that commercial property owners and business owners will be examining as the community’s economic development initiatives progress. (You may have to check back in the text of Section One to verify what the abbreviation for a specific "Entity Type" actually represents.)

• Lyons Downtown Improvement Committee  (2007 EOY Report)
  These reports from the Downtown Improvement Committee cover the basic plan for High Street upgrades and the plan for enhancement of the two block Main Street Commercial District scheduled for October, 2009.

• Lyons Downtown Improvement Committee  (2008 EOY Report)
  Reports from the Downtown Improvement Committee providing details of the 2009 upgrades of Main Street between 3rd and 5th plus summary of completed High Street upgrades and comments about completion of High Street with further amenities in Summer of 2009.

• Downtown Landscaping   (Technical Recommendations to Board Of Trustees)
  Now adopted, budgeted and funded, these 2008 recommendations lay the groundwork for a landscaping program to enhance the attractiveness of the town’s public spaces and commercial center beginning in 2009.

• Lyons Economic Gardening Group   (Chamber of Commerce service)
  Referred to as LEGG, this economic gardening service assists Chamber Members with a full range of economic and management tools and provides lectures and seminars to the entire business community.

• Tools For Business Success   (service of the Chamber’s Economic Gardening Program)
  A vast clearinghouse of information and guidance available on this website at no charge to all companies, organizations, professional services and individuals in the Lyons Business Community. LEGG’S Tools For Business is made available through the generosity of the Lyons Community foundation and the Lyons Area Chamber of Commerce.