External Barriers Report Leads

External Barriers Executive Lead:
Lyle SmithGraybeal Lyle@unitedway-weld.org

Report Authors:
Alexis Kennedy, PHD Alexis.Kennedy@colostate.edu

Kelsey Baun kbaun@larimer.org

For all general inquiries:
please email  info@nocoworks.org

Barriers to Getting & Keeping Employment in Northern Colorado

Landscape Analysis of Initiatives and Activities Decreasing Barriers Around Childcare, Housing, and Transportation

Northern Colorado recognizes that to stay a dynamic labor market we must collectively address challenges to employment. Three key external barriers that impact the attraction and retention of the region’s talent pipeline and workforce are child care, housing, and transportation (TIP Strategies, 2017). The exponential growth of these barriers, as well as the number of interested partners working to understand these key issues, has highlighted the need for a shared vision and more coordination, as well as a shared understanding of programming assets and gaps.

To achieve this, the Fort Collins Area Chamber of Commerce and Weld County’s Early Childhood Council at United Way of Weld County provided equal financial contributions to hire a third-party local organization, Public Service Partnerships, LLC, to conduct a landscape analysis of what initiatives and activities are addressing barriers in child care, housing, and transportation in Northern Colorado. The Fort Collins Area Chamber of Commerce and United Way of Weld County are highly interested in supporting NoCo Works, and the efforts occurring across the Northern Colorado region to decrease barriers to employment including child care, housing, and  transportation.

This report is the culmination of months of data collection and serves as the first phase of ongoing work around mapping regional efforts. Facilitated conversations, landscape analysis, and primary data collection were conducted, resulting in recommendations and alignment around strategic regional opportunities. Specifically, the research presented here informs actionable recommendations to NoCo Works and the External Barriers subcommittee, one of the six subcommittees created under the NoCo Works banner. The intention is to inform the work of NoCo Works and the larger community, to not reinvent or duplicate efforts that already exist in these spaces, to better align activity for shared effort, and to maximize current and future resources.