2012 Annual Conference Speakers

Plenary Speakers

 

Amy Cortese, Author of Locavesting

Amy Cortese is an award-winning journalist and editor who covers topics spanning business, finance, food, wine and environmental issues. Her work has appeared in the the New York Times, New York Times Magazine, New York, Business Week, the Daily News, Portfolio, Mother Jones, Afar, The American, the Daily Beast, Talk, Business 2.0 and Wired, among other publications. Her book, Locavesting: The Revolution in Local Investing and How to Profit From it (John Wiley & Sons, June 2011), draws upon her experience covering these diverse realms to explore how a small shift in investment away from multinationals towards locally-owned enterprises can reap enormous economic and social benefits for individuals, their communities and the country. 

Plenary: Locavesting

 

Rich Kylberg, ARROW

Five Years Out. Rich Kylberg of Arrow Electronics, a Fortune 150 company with 15,700 employees worldwide, is a well known for innovative thinking to shape the future. Mr. Kylberg, and Arrow, build Colorado communities through support for education, arts and culture, and the environment. Rich Kylberg of Arrow will discuss the importance of private sector giving and partnership in building and maintaining innovative and vibrant communities in Colorado.   Plenary: 5 Years Out

 

 

 

 

Steve Mouzon, Mouzon Design, Author of The Original Green,

Steve Mouzon is an architect, urbanist, author, blogger, and photographer from Miami. He founded the New Urban Guild, which helped foster the Katrina Cottages movement. The Guild hosts Project:SmartDwelling, which works to redefine the house to be much smaller and more sustainable. Steve founded and is a board member of the Guild Foundation; it hosts the Original Green initiative. Steve speaks regularly across the US and abroad on sustainability issues. He blogs on the Original Green Blog and Useful Stuff. He also posts to the Original Green Twitter stream. Plenary: Locally Grown, Agrarian Urbanism

 

 

 

Jon Schallert, Destination BootCamp

Jon Schallert is an internationally-recognized speaker and business expert specializing in teaching businesses and communities how to turn themselves into Consumer Destinations.  Schallert speaks to thousands annually on his proprietary 14-step "Destination Business" process, which he developed over the course of nearly 30 years of working with independent business owners.

Jon’s Destination Business strategy has been used extensively by cities, towns, downtowns, shopping centers, retail chains, franchises, and independent entrepreneurs and owners. This strategy has the advantage of pulling a greater number of consumers, from a greater geographic distance, to a business, causing increases in sales and profits, while improving the marketplace where the business resides. Plenary: Destination BootCamp

 

Brad Segal, Progressive Urban Management Associates (P.U.M.A.)

 Brad Segal, president of P.U.M.A., has more than 25 years of downtown management and community development experience as both a practitioner and consultant. He is one of the nation's leading authorities on downtown trends and issues, strategic planning for organizations involved in downtown and community development, and creating business improvement districts.   Prior to establishing P.U.M.A., Brad designed and managed economic development programs to attract jobs and investment to downtown Denver as senior director of the Downtown Denver Partnership.

Brad is currently serving his third term on the board of the International Downtown Association and is a past president of Downtown Colorado, Inc.  He has been a featured speaker on downtown issues in regional, national and international forums.  Brad is the author of many articles and publications, including ABCs for Creating BIDs and Top Ten Global Trends Affecting Downtowns and How to Respond at Home. Plenary: Community Development & Legislative Redistricting: How Community Development and Its Shared Impacts Changed Colorado's Legislative Map

Additional Speakers

 

Julie Bender, Cherry Creek North BID

Julie Bender is President and CEO of the Cherry Creek North Business Improvement District.  In this position, she oversees the operation of the 16-block Cherry Creek North retail district in Denver.  The high-end, outdoor shopping area has more than 320 businesses, from art galleries and clothing boutiques to salons and restaurants. Julie was formerly President and CEO of the Denver International Airport (DIA) Partnership and head of the Aurora Economic Development Council.  

Vickie Berkley, Colorado Center for Community Development

Vickie Berkley is Assistant Director for Civic Engagement at the Colorado Center for Community Development (CCCD), an applied research center housed in the UC Denver College of Architecture and Planning. Ms. Berkley has her Masters degree in Community Development from Southern Illinois University and studied at the National University of Ireland in Galway as a Rotary Ambassadorial Scholar.

Ms. Berkley has over 30 years of experience working in community economic development, primarily focusing on rural economic revitalization through enhancing existing natural, cultural and social assets. Her career started as a Volunteer In Service To America (VISTA) in southern Illinois and has now included work with rural electric cooperatives, state government, municipal engineering and universities.

Pam Bricker, Greeley Downtown Development Authority

Pam Bricker is the Executive Director of the Greeley Downtown Development Authority. She has been a small business owner in Greeley for over 27 years.   After locating the business to Downtown in 2008, she helped develop Greeley Downtown Alliance.  Pam is the chair of the Greeley Blues Jam and has been active in many local organizations including the Greeley Chamber, Greeley Visitor & Convention Bureau, United Way, Habitat for Humanity, City Comprehensive Plan, City Charter Revision, City Sign Code, and the Weld Food Bank.  Pam has used her connections to improve communications and networking and to focus community efforts on the continued redevelopment of Downtown Greeley.  As a business owner, Pam has learned every phase of the business world including marketing, accounting, employee management, finance and most of all: survival.  

Theresa Cameron,  Manger of Local Arts Agency Relations. 

Theresa works closely with the Local Arts Advancement team to help develop and implement programs and services that strengthen the field of 5000 local arts agencies. Previously, she was CEO of the Arts and Humanities Council of Montgomery County (AHCMC) in Maryland for 10 years where she oversaw the day-to-day operations of the county's nonprofit local arts and humanities agency that included a staff of nine and a budget of over $4 million. While at AHCMC, she developed Creative Montgomery: A county-wide cultural planning process as well assisting several organizations in developing cultural facilities . She also created enabling legislation for Maryland’s arts and entertainment districts.  Prior to joining AHCMC, she was manager of corporate and foundation relations at the Association of University Women Educational Foundation and also for 6 years as the senior program specialist for the National Endowment for the Arts in their Local Arts Agencies Program. Theresa earned a bachelor's degree from the University of Wyoming and is originally from Wyoming.

Marc Cittone, Colorado Department of Local Affairs

Marc Cittone is a Main Street Specialist with the Community Development Office.  An eleven-year resident of Colorado, Marc worked in municipal planning in Colorado communities for over six years, focusing on comprehensive downtown revitalization, land use, zoning and affordable housing, as well as serving as historic preservation planner and securing or managing grants for housing, historic rehabilitation, and planning for active living.  Marc also has experience in community outreach and open space issues.  He holds an MA in Public Policy from the University of Colorado at Boulder, where he spent time researching stakeholder-based watershed planning in Colorado's mining-impacted communities.  He is a member of the American Institute of Certified Planners.

William Coffield, NV5

Will is an engineering manager working in NV5's Denver construction management group. He has over 12 years experience in construction management working on residential land development projects and as a heavy highway/civil contractor. He also has experience working as a design engineer on private development projects. Will's experience includes project management, constructability review, construction management (CM), preconstruction services, contract establishment and oversight, oversight of field operations, personnel management, subconsultant management, and construction administration. His experience also includes working for and representing project owners in a variety of functions. Will has experience managing public projects up to $18 million in value and private development projects up to $50 million in value. Will holds a degree in Civil Engineering from the University of Wyoming Laramie and is a Registered Professional Engineer in the State of Colorado.  

Kristin Cypher, Britina Design Group.

 In both her professional and educational experience, Kristin has had the opportunity to research, design and manage an interesting mix of public and private land planning projects. As both a planner and a landscape architect, Kristin’s expertise ranges from fi eld work documentation to the planning and design of historic and current places. A researcher at heart, Kristin continually drives the theoretical and philosophical underpinnings of Britina’s work. As the primary point of contact for Britina’s community planning and design work, Kristin is often the ‘face’ of Britina during public meetings and project presentations, where her gift for communication and consensus-building shines. Kristin is also currently serving her first year on DCI's board of directors.

Darin Dinsmore, Crowdbrite

Crowdbrite CEO Darin Dinsmore is an urban planner and landscape architect with over 20 years experience in community-based planning and design. His award-winning projects have transformed communities and neighborhoods. The innovative "Planning for Prosperity" program he implemented in California won the APA Daniel Burnham Award and the Tahoe Regional Sustainability Plan won an APA award for best practices. Darin is an expert in collaborative techniques and community engagement, and his team designs and delivers multi-stakeholder decision making processes using new tools and techniques. His clients include all levels of government and public agencies. His experience has helped communities increase their livability and prosperity, reduce their ecological footprint and improve human and ecological health. 

Robert Ferrin, City & County of Denver

Robert Ferrin, Parking & Planning Program Administrator, is responsible for a variety of operational, planning, and policy initiatives related to on and off-street parking infrastructure in the City and County of Denver. Robert coordinates the efficient use of the public right of way for an assortment of uses, including valet operations, metered and non-metered on-street parking, and transit use. Robert is currently working on parking demand studies in several in-town neighborhoods in Denver, as well as implementing zoning policies regarding off-street parking opportunities.

Robert holds a B.S. and M.A. in Geography from UNC Charlotte. His graduate studies culminated with his thesis entitled "Determinants of Light Rail Station Choice on Charlotte's LYNX Blue Line". Robert is active in the community as a member of the Urban Land Institute - Colorado where he serves on the Young Leaders Programs Committee.

Claudia Folska, Virtual Vanguard, LLC

Claudia Folska has been a pioneer in her field demonstrating  unique insights into the built environment.  Her recent research interest is how people who are blind navigate the built environment and the implication to neural plasticity.  Claudia has a BA from USC, an MBA from USC and will ecieve her PhD, from UCD in May 2012.

Maryo Gard-Ewell, Westaf Arts

Maryo Gard Ewell worked for more than 20 years in arts administration, in Connecticut, Illinois and Colorado; her special field during most of that time was the symbiotic relationship between arts programs and community development. Since her retirement in 2003 from the Colorado Council on the Arts, she has worked as a consultant, conference organizer and speaker in community-and-arts development, in Idaho, South Dakota, Georgia, Ohio, Arkansas and her birth-state of Wisconsin, as well as in Colorado. 

Steve Glueck, City of Golden

Steve Glueck has been Golden's Planning and Economic Development Director since 1990.  During that time the community has created the vibrant downtown enjoyed by residents and hundreds of thousands of visitors a year.

Kate Haher, Downtown Denver Partnership

For the past ten years, Kate has been an employee at the Downtown Denver Partnership (DDP).  Hired as the Mall Use Representative in 2001 she was responsible for daily management of the 16th Street Mall right-of-way permitting programs in addition to providing administrative support for the Downtown Denver Business Improvement District.  Currently the Senior Manager of the Pedestrian Environment, her responsibilities include; acting as the Administrative Manager for the Denver 14th Street General Improvement District, Implementing streetscape improvements projects with the City and County of Denver, coordinating communication to property owners, managing logistics for the Downtown Denver Partnership's Urban Exploration program, overseeing management of all permits on the 16th Street Mall and implementing streetscape enhancement projects.  Additionally, Kate plans and manages a number of budgets and assists the Executive Vice President, Downtown Environment with department planning.

Elizabeth Hallas, Andersan Hallas Architects

Elizabeth Hallas, AIA is a principal with Anderson Hallas Architects in Golden, Colorado. Her work has included the transformation of many award winning historic buildings throughout the state in downtown areas including The Beaumont Hotel in Ouray, the Fort Morgan City Hall and the Montrose Administrative Buildings. The firm specializes in high caliber public sector work in both historic and contemporary contexts for municipalities and agencies throughout the Rocky Mountain west.  

Chris Haller, Urban Interactive Studio

Chris is a nationally-recognized Web developer and Online Engagement practitioner, with a broad background in urban planning and communication technologies. These skills, combined with many years of experience in consulting for urban planning projects, are what brings Urban Interactive Studio's mission "to enhance communication and improve decision-making in cities" to life. In April 2011 he was named one of the Top 25 thinkers in Urban Planning Technology by the urban planning magazine Planetizen.

Eric Heil, Heil Law & Planning, LLC

Eric Heil of Heil Law & Planning, LLC is an attorney and certified land planner with 19 years experience representing municipalities in Colorado.  Over the course of his career Mr. Heil has served as a municipal attorney, community development planner, town manager and project administrator.  Mr. Heil has presented on the topics of Legal, Planning and Environmental Issues Associated with Mining Claims; Annexation and Development Agreements; Ethics for Planners; Brownfields Redevelopment Law; The Role of Non-Profits in Brownfields Redevelopments; and Recent Land Use Law in Colorado at state and regional planning conferences.  Mr. Heil has published articles on home rule authority in Colorado in the Colorado Municipal League Magazine and the effect of Kelo v. City of New London on legislation in western states.  Current clients include the Town of Avon, Colorado and the City of Creede, Colorado.

Mark Heller, Golden Urban Renewal Authority (GURA)

Mark Heller applies more than 20 years of experience in community planning, economic development, real estate development, sustainability programming, small business legal counseling, cultural organization management, and community involvement to the challenges placed before the Golden Urban Renewal Authority (GURA).  He has overseen significant positive changes in GURA and for downtown Golden since becoming Executive Director in 2004.  Among other projects, he co-authored and directed the award-winning Golden Sustainability Initiative in 2007 and managed the Gateway Station mixed-use redevelopment, which was recognized by DCI as the 2008 winner of the Governor’s Awards for Downtown Excellence for new construction. He is currently managing the process for several new potential urban renewal projects, a community-run cinema, and the Golden stage for this summer’s Quiznos Pro Challenge professional cycling race.  

Jocelyn Hittle, PlaceMatters

Jocelyn is the Director of PlaceMatters: Sustainable Solutions Group, heading many of the organization's community and regional decision-making processes. Her work at PlaceMatters also focuses on effective outreach and communications strategies, and she edited Planning & Technology Today, the publication of the American Planning Association Technology Division, from 2006 to 2009. Prior to joining PlaceMatters, Jocelyn was Program Associate for the Rocky Mountain Office of the Orton Family Foundation, where her work focused primarily on innovative decision support tools and project management. Jocelyn has a Master's Degree in Environmental Management from the Yale School of Forestry and Environmental Studies, where she co-founded the Land Use Coalition and worked closely with the School's Urban Resources Initiative. Jocelyn has a BA in Ecology and Evolutionary Biology with a Certificate in Environmental Studies from Princeton University.

Martin Hudson, Town of Castle Rock

Martin has done downtown/urban redevelopment/planning for over 11 years in South Florida, Ohio and now Colorado. He has developed multiple zoning overlay’s, received numerous grants to assist in urban redevelopment efforts and managed redevelopment areas with over $100 million worth of projects in the planning and development phase. He presented at the 2008 Ohio APA Conference and at the Denver Regional Council of Governments Planner Exchange in 2010. Martin has had success in moving redevelopment/development forward in all three locations by taking a comprehensive approach that includes integrating the community’s goals, public input, and sound urban planning principles, while maintaining a focus on the economic reality that is needed to be successful in urban redevelopment. 

Anna Jones, Progressive Urban Management Associates (P.U.M.A) 

Anna is primarily involved in the formation of special districts, market-based planning and project feasibility analyses. Prior to working at P.U.M.A, Anna served as a Peace Corps volunteer in Sri Lanka teaching English and working at a sea turtle hatchery. Anna is a member of the Denver Planning Board, and is on the board of DCI.

Wade Kloos, ESRI

Wade Kloos has worked for and with state and local governments for the past 25 years in various capacities including city planning, CDBG administration and GIS coordination.  For the last 10 years, Wade has work for Esri, the world’s leading GIS software company, as a government Account Executive. 

Nancy McCamey, Denver Metropolitan Scientific and Cultural Facilities District (SCFD)

Nancy McCamey has served as a program manager for over five years at the Denver Metropolitan Scientific and Cultural Facilities District (SCFD), a local tax district that annually distributes approximately 40 million dollars to arts, science and cultural nonprofits and local government agencies. She has overseen SCFD’s annual Tier III competitive grant process for almost 300 organizations, has shared responsibility for Tier II, mid-size, regional institutions and seven appointed volunteer county cultural councils made up of approximately 70 volunteers. Nancy has key responsibilities in the annual eligibility process including policy creation and implementation and provides transparency and oversight of public funds on behalf of tax payers.Nancy moved to Denver from New Orleans in 2006 where she worked in disaster clean-up after Hurricane Katrina. She received a master’s of public administration degree from the University of Colorado Denver’s School of Public Affairs. Nancy has served as a mentor through Denver Metro Partners since 2010. 

Dick Marshall, NV5

Dick is a planning manager in NV5's Rocky Mountain region with over 35 years of planning and design experience. He is experienced in a broad range of public and private projects for a wide variety of land uses and project types including planned residential communities, mixed-use developments, parks and recreation sites and corridors, golf courses, retail centers, resorts and lodging, and urban streetscapes and districts.

Dick has done extensive work as a consultant to the National Park Service in regions across the US.  His work involved planning, design and implementation for many projects which were controversial and which involved leadership and facilitation of diverse groups in order to develop consensus solutions. All projects were completed within the parameters of NEPA compliance, FAR Regulations, challenging budgets and schedules.

Dick holds a degree in Landscape Architecture from Kansas State University and is a Registered Landscape Architect in the State of Colorado.

Vicki Mattox, Stifel Nicolaus

In her career, she has worked with mountain tourism towns and special districts including the towns of Dillon, Winter Park, Gunnison, Grand Lake, Fraser, Frisco, Durango, Grand Lake Fire Protection District, Grand Fire Protection District, Crested Butte Fire Protection District and school districts in Durango, Bayfield, Delta, Denver, Johnstown-Milliken, Jefferson County and Montrose.    Ms. Mattox joined the Denver office of Stifel Nicolaus & Company, Inc., early in 2005.  Prior to joining the firm she was a banker at George K. Baum & Company for 21 years.  While she was with George K. Baum she served as the lead or co-lead banker for more than 400 municipal bond financings and oversaw the issuance of more than $2 billion of tax-exempt bonds and notes.  She developed innovative financing structures including the certificates of participation issue for the City of Englewood Civic Center project and the only tax-exempt issue ever completed for a non-profit water company in Colorado.  She was also a member of the finance team that designed the City and County of Denver’s successful minibond program.   Ms. Mattox holds a master’s degree in public administration with an emphasis in finance and policy analysis and a bachelor’s degree in economics, both from the University of Colorado at Boulder.  

Kimberlee McKee, Longmont Downtown Development Authority

Kimberlee McKee has been the Executive Director of the Longmont Downtown Development Authority since 2011. Prior to taking this position, she was the President of the Downtown Akron Partnership, a Special Improvement District in Akron, Ohio.  Through her experience in both a DDA and SID, she has worked with a diverse group of stakeholders and municipal leaders to develop projects, programs and events. Throughout her career she has specialized in strategic programs, marketing and event management.

Rick Muriby, City of Golden

Rick Muriby is a Senior City Planner with the City of Golden. Though he wears many hats in this position, community planning has been much of his focus. He was involved in the community's Golden Vision 2030 process, which identified Golden's core values, and was staff lead on the subsequent Comprehensive Plan update, which translated the values into an implementation strategy. Mr. Muriby is now leading efforts to develop form based land use codes within the City's "areas of change," which is an attempt to turn the Comp Plan policies into regulations that govern the built environment.

Troy Peterson, Flagstone Partners

Troy Peterson is the owner of Flagstone Partners, a real estate investment and development company. Troy grew up on a farm in the Midwest which established the foundation of a solid work ethic and entrepreneurial values at a young age. He received a degree in Computer Engineering from Iowa State University and moved to Colorado in 1987 to work for Hewlett-Packard in Fort Collins. After four years at HP he left the corporate world and followed his entrepreneurial passions to start a high-tech business, eventually locating the business in downtown Loveland. As a serial entrepreneur he has guided several businesses over the past two decades. Most recently, Troy partnered with the City of Loveland to complete a 20,000 square foot additional to the historic Rialto Theater.

Hilarie Portell, PortellWorks

Hilarie Portell is the principal and owner of Portell Works, a consulting firm advancing urban districts, downtowns and development projects. With nearly 20 years of experience on staff and as a consultant for public and private sector firms, Portell has worked on a variety of complex projects requiring a versatile skill set.

Portell and her team work with community and economic development organizations and their private sector partners, providing strategic communications, marketing and grant writing services. Clients praise their strategic thinking and ability to give "voice and vision” to a project to advance goals.

Portell served on the executive team of the Lowry Redevelopment Authority from 1996 to 2006. As part-time executive director of the Fax Partnership, she is responsible for East Colfax district marketing, business attraction and retention, economic development and clean and safe initiatives. Current and recent clients include Boulder Housing Partners, Brighton Urban Renewal Authority, Castle Rock Downtown Development Authority, Denver Housing Authority, the City of Monte Vista and the Lowry Redevelopment Authority. Portell has a master's degree in public administration from the University of Colorado at Denver. She's active in the Urban Land Institute and Downtown Colorado Inc.

Ceyl Prinster, Colorado Enterprise Fund

Ms. Prinster has served as CEO of CEF for over 20 years. As CEO, she is responsible for the overall operations of CEF, including program delivery, resource development, strategic planning, and public relations. Prior to joining CEF, she was a Training Officer and Commercial Banking Officer at United Bank of Denver, which is now Wells Fargo. She is a member of the CFA Institute. She serves on the Governor's Small Business Advisory Board.

Jennifer Ranville, Human Life Project

As an architect, planning commissioner, and LEED Accredited Professional, Jennifer Ranville brings a cross-disciplinary approach to help cities design for the youngest to the oldest resident, seamlessly incorporating sustainable concepts. In 2006, Jennifer founded the Human Life Project ® to explore the fundamental role of the family to sustain our communities. She presented at the Ecocity World Summit 2011 in Montreal. Jennifer is a graduate of the University of Michigan with a Master's degree in Architecture. Jennifer resides with her husband and two children in Littleton, Colorado.

Anne Ricker, Ricker Cunningham

Ms. Ricker has extensive experience performing real estate market analyses, community reinvestment strategies, urban renewal plans and economic development analyses for downtowns, inner-ring suburbs, central cities, commercial corridors, and transit stations in communities throughout the Western United States.   Fundamental to the Denver office’s approach to every assignment is the belief that communities are built through public-private partnerships.   Serving clients throughout the Rocky Mountain, Southern and Central United States, and an award recipient from the International Downtown Association, Texas APA, and North Central Texas COG, Anne is currently a member of IDA, Downtown Denver Partnership, Downtown Colorado Inc. (DCI), Urban Land Institute and American Planning Association.

Joe Rowan, Funding Partners

Joe Rowan serves as Executive Director for Funding Partners. Originally joining the organization as Senior Loan Officer in 2001, he was tapped as its chief officer in 2004. With a well developed background in real estate finance and retail banking, Joe brings a wealth of private sector expertise in organizational management, risk analysis and loan production. These strengths have allowed Funding Partners to grow its geographic base to include the entire state of Colorado, while expanding technical assistance services and specialized financial products to address distinct needs within the market. Joe has successfully transformed the organization into a highly sophisticated financial institution without losing its appeal as a revolving loan fund familiar with local conditions and trusted partner in every corner of Colorado. Joe holds a B.S. in Business Administration with emphasis in Finance & Real Estate from Colorado State University. He has received several certifications in industry-specific disciplines that include: financial management, capital structuring, tax credit and bond financing, loss mitigation and portfolio analysis. Joe is frequently called upon to provide market perspective and technical presentations to both public events and private consultations. He is a member of the Affordable Housing Advisory Committee of the Federal Home Loan Bank of Topeka and active member in the Fort Collins Chamber of Commerce.  Joe is a licensed Mortgage Loan Originator in the State of Colorado.  

Mike Scholl, City of Loveland

Mike Scholl has a Master's Degree in Public Policy, a Master's Degree in Urban Planning and a BA in Political Science from the University of Michigan. Mike worked in the House of Representatives in Washington DC before discovering his true passion was community development.

Mike worked for three years for Juergensen and Associates as a senior associate doing urban revitalization plans for local communities. In addition, the firm did a number of real estate trainings through the National Main Street Center.

More recently, Mike has been working to revitalize Downtown Loveland where he recently completed a $5 million dollar public/private project in the heart of downtown. The project is a 20,000 square foot three story expansion of the historic theater and with a new privately owned restaurant and commercial office space.

Mike is also scheduled to become a Certified Economic Development Finance Professional through the National Development Council in April of 2012.

Scott Shine, Montrose DDA

Scott Shine is the Executive Director of the newly formed Montrose DDA.  Scott has diverse experience in planning and recreation.  Prior to his current job, Scott worked as a Senior Planner for the City of Montrose, and as Assistant Planner at Lane Council of Governments in Lane County, Oregon.  He is a graduate of Utah State University and the University of Oregon and has served as a VISTA volunteer with Resource Assistance for Rural Environments and a Recreation Researcher at the U.S. Forest Service.  He is also event coordinator at San Juan Mountain Runners. 

Jeff Seifried, Mile High Community Loan Fund

Jeff is Executive Director of Mile High Community Loan Fund, a Denver-based nonprofit community development financial institution. Jeff leads the organization’s effort to attract new investors, implement MHCLF’s strategic growth plan, promote MHCLF’s products to affordable housing developers and other nonprofit community based organizations and ensure the financial security and integrity of the $11 million Fund. Prior to joining MHCLF, Jeff worked as the Urban Renewal Division Manager and the Small Business Development Coordinator for the City of Aurora, Colorado.  He developed and managed two small business loan programs, negotiated redevelopment agreements and incentives for commercial and affordable housing projects and implemented strategies for redevelopment in two urban renewal project areas.  He also reestablished the Small Business Developmental Center at Red Rocks Community College and managed the distribution of Federal workforce training monies to colleges, school districts and community-based organizations. 

Patty Silverstein, Development Research Partners

Patricia Silverstein’s expertise is in economic research and economic development, including industry cluster studies and strategic economic development planning. She has extensive experience in preparing economic and fiscal impact analysis for community development purposes. In addition, she serves as the consulting chief economist for the Metro Denver Economic Development Corp. and the Denver Metro Chamber of Commerce. In these roles, she compiles, interprets, and forecasts economic and demographic data for the Denver metropolitan area and performs in-depth research on issues and proposed developments impacting the region.

Ms. Silverstein received a bachelor's degree in economics from Nebraska Wesleyan University in Lincoln, Nebraska and a master's degree in economics from the University of Colorado at Boulder.

Ms. Silverstein is active in a number of business and professional organizations, including chair of the manufacturing committee of the University of Colorado Business Economic Outlook Forum, member of the board of directors of the Council for Community and Economic Research (C2ER), and member of the Governor's Revenue Estimating Advisory Committee, the Economic Development Council of Colorado, and the Denver Association of Business Economists.

Jesse Silverstein, Colorado Brownfields Foundation

Jesse’s experience includes preparing economic development strategies, real estate financial analysis, and economic/fiscal impact analysis for a variety of public and private projects. Jesse holds a Bachelor's Degree in Economics from the University of Delaware, a Master's Degree in Economics from the University of Colorado at Boulder, and has an MAI professional designation in commercial real estate analysis from the Appraisal Institute. Appointed by Governor Ritter, Jesse serves as a member of the Colorado Petroleum Storage Tank Committee.

Jacob Smtih, Place Matters

Jacob Smith has worked for, worked with, and run nonprofits for more than fifteen years. He comes to PlaceMatters after founding and running Center for Native Ecosystems, a conservation non-profit based in Denver and working across the Rocky Mountain Region. More recently he held the position of executive director of the Nooru Foundation, a family philanthropic foundation focusing on biodiversity conservation in the United States and education in East Africa. In addition, Jacob just completed a four-year term as the mayor of Golden, Colorado (and served on the City Council for three years prior to that). During that time, he represented Golden on the board of the Denver Regional Council of Governments and on the executive committee of the Denver Metro Mayors Caucus. He previously served on the Golden Historic Preservation Board. Jacob is also the co-author of The Nimble Nonprofit: An Unconventional Guide to Sustaining and Growing Your Nonprofit.

Stephanie Troller, Department of Local Affairs (DOLA)

Stephanie Troller is a Community Development Specialist with the Community Development Office focusing on economic development and the Colorado Main Street Program.  Stephanie worked for the Department of Local Affairs for three years in the Division of Housing before joining the CDO team.  Stephanie came from New Mexico where she has over seven years of experience working in community and economic development, working with rural communities, business retention and recruitment, and community outreach.  She holds her BA in International Business.   

Tareq Wafaie, Colorado Department of Local Affairs

Tareq Wafaie is a Community Development Specialist with the Community Development Office.  Tareq has worked in both the public and private sectors as a community planner and brings his knowledge of natural hazard mitigation, land use codes and comprehensive planning, urban renewal planning, GIS, public involvement and meeting facilitation, transit-oriented development, and urban design.  He currently works with communities throughout Colorado by providing training and technical assistance to staff, elected and appointed officials on matters associated with land use planning and community development.  Tareq has a master's in urban and regional planning from the University of Colorado at Denver.  Tareq is a member of the American Institute of Certified Planners (AICP), the American Planning Association, and serves on the board of directors for the Transit Alliance.   

Tim Ware, City of Aspen

In addition to being the Director of Parking for the City of Aspen, Tim also is founder and co-owner of Parking Research Solutions.  His company focuses on providing data collection, analysis and recommendations for municipally-owned and privately-owned parking systems.  Tim has been the Director in Aspen for 20 years where he implemented one of the first Pay-and-Display on street parking systems in North America.  During the past 10 years he has assisted numerous organizations implement pay-and-display parking operations.  The City of Aspen was T2 Systems’ first T2 Flex installation. Tim is the Chair of the Customer Advisory Board for T2 Systems. 

Cassandra L. Wilson, Morgan County Economic Development Corporation

Cassandra has lived in Morgan County since 2009, after moving from central Kansas where she was an Admissions Counselor/Recruiter for Fort Hays State University.  Upon relocating in Morgan County, Cassandra worked for the City of Brush! as the Marketing Specialist until she was hired as the Executive Director at Morgan County Economic Development Corporation in February 2012. MCEDC is a not for profit corporation that is funded through private investors and public dollars from each municipality in Morgan County. The corporation is a resource for current and new businesses to gather information.  She holds a bachelor's degree in Management and Marketing from Fort Hays State University and is currently working on an MLS Degree in Public Administration from FHSU.  

Theresa Worsham, City of Golden

As the Sustainability Coordinator for the City of Golden, Theresa Worsham administers city-wide sustainability programs and is the staff liaison to the City's Community Sustainability Advisory Board.  On any given day, she may be talking trash (well, recycling actually), researching renewable energy technologies, or meeting with community groups.  Prior to her current position, Theresa worked as a city planner and coordinated environmental programs for Vail Resorts and Coors Brewing Company.  Theresa received a MPA from the University of Colorado Denver, is certified with the American Institute of Certified Planners (AICP), and is a LEED® Accredited Professional.  However, even with all the acronyms, Theresa still forgets to bring her reusable bags to the grocery store once in a while.