What’s Important Now

One Arvada business that has found success improving retention through company culture is Barber-Nichols. Learn how the manufacturer developed a series of strategies to improve employee morale and engagement, and the practical advice you can use today for your business.

The Public Relations Student Society of America hosted a competition this past year which challenged student teams to implement a public relations campaign centered on enhancing civility in their community.

The 2021 Bateman Case Study Competition received 54 entries. We are joined on the podcast by leaders from the top two entries to discuss why promoting civility is critical for your employees and customers and tactics you should employ today.

The Arvada Chamber’s workforce initiative, Arvada Works, continues to focus on helping our members find, develop and retain the top local talent by leveraging and improving area partnerships. One large, and often overlooked, workforce segment is the justice-involved community. Among the 70 million formerly incarcerated people in the US, about 27% are unemployed. We talk to Aaron Clark, Founder and CEO of Justice Reskill, about the barriers that exist for those who are formerly incarcerated and how employers can best offer career-focused support.

The American Rescue Plan Act established the Restaurant Revitalization Fund (RRF) to provide funding to help restaurants and other eligible businesses keep their doors open. This program will provide restaurants with funding equal to their pandemic-related revenue loss up to $10 million per business and no more than $5 million per physical location.  We talked to Frances Padilla, District Director (Colorado District Office) at the U.S. Small Business Administration, about the details of this program, how to apply, and other funding options available to Arvada businesses.

One of Colorado’s most contentious pieces of legislation this year is Colorado House Bill 21-1232, which concerns the establishment of a standardized health benefit plan for Colorado. A recent amendment to the bill requires private insurers in the state to offer a highly regulated, standardized plan and drive down premium costs by 18% over three years. We talked to Nicole Milo at Centura Health to break down the origins of the bill, who the legislation will impact, and next steps for the bill this session.