Building stronger business relationships in Golden, Colorado

The City of Golden, Colorado, is known for its vibrant downtown, strong entrepreneurial culture, and deep connections between the city, local businesses, and community institutions. Supporting that ecosystem is the work of the City’s Economic Development Department, which focuses on helping local businesses grow while maintaining Golden’s unique economic character.

Through traditional BR&E work, partnerships with community organizations, and targeted programs for entrepreneurs, Golden’s economic development team prioritizes building stronger business relationships with the businesses that make up the local economy.

A focus on economic gardening

The City of Golden’s Economic Development Department manages several core responsibilities, including business retention, expansion, and attraction, while also overseeing special taxing districts such as Urban Renewal areas and the Downtown Development Authority.

At the center of their strategy is economic gardening — supporting existing businesses and entrepreneurs so they can grow within the community.

“The Economic Development Department of the City of Golden does traditional economic development work of business retention, expansion, and attraction paired with managing special taxing districts throughout the City.”

This approach prioritizes strengthening the businesses that already call Golden home while creating opportunities for new companies and entrepreneurs.

Programs supporting this strategy include small business grants, workforce development initiatives, and partnerships with local organizations to create programming that supports the broader business community.

“We focus on the strategy of economic gardening by providing support to local businesses and entrepreneurs through small business grants, workforce development, and partnering with local stakeholders for events and programming.”

Building stronger business relationships through engagement

A key part of Golden’s economic development strategy is consistent engagement with local businesses.

The team regularly conducts business retention meetings and “Welcome to Golden” visits for businesses that are new to the community.

These meetings help establish relationships early and ensure businesses know they have a direct connection to the City.

“We find having those meetings help establish a good working relationship between the business or entrepreneur and the City of Golden.”

These conversations also give the economic development team a better understanding of what businesses need — allowing the City to respond with targeted support and resources.

Events that bring the business community together

Golden also supports a range of programs and events designed to bring the business community together and foster collaboration.

Because the department operates with a limited budget, it relies heavily on partnerships with local organizations to help make these initiatives possible.

“With our limited budget, we lean heavily on our local partners to aid with events.”

One of the most successful programs is Golden Startup Coffee, a monthly entrepreneurial pitch event sponsored by the City’s Economic Development Commission.

“The monthly program has been active for roughly three years, and we have about 100 attendees each month.”

The event gives entrepreneurs a place to collaborate, share ideas, and gain insight from experienced business owners and industry professionals.

Golden also partners with the Colorado School of Mines by sponsoring local businesses to participate in the university’s career fair, helping connect employers with emerging talent.

In addition, the City contributes to the Chamber’s annual Business Summit and supports participation from local companies.

Another signature community event is Goldens in Golden, organized by the City’s Visit Golden team with support from economic development staff.

“Our Economic Development team uses Bludot to inform businesses on event logistics, opportunities to tie into event promotion, and solicit local sponsorships and participation in the event.”

The Downtown Development Authority also supports the event by helping provide shuttle transportation and security for attendees.

Communicating with businesses at scale

With a large number of businesses across the community, communication is essential — particularly during busy seasons when construction projects, events, and other disruptions may affect local companies.

Golden uses Bludot’s group email and mapping tools to ensure businesses receive important updates and information.

One of the most common uses of the system is communicating about construction and road closures that may impact businesses.

“We email businesses that may be impacted by construction.”

City policy requires construction teams to notify affected businesses, but the economic development team uses Bludot to reinforce that communication and ensure business owners receive the information.

The platform is especially helpful during Golden’s busiest months, when construction, parades, and major events often happen at the same time.

“It is very useful in the busy summer months with construction and special events.”

Bludot also proved valuable during emergency situations.

“The December Xcel PSPS was very disruptive to businesses, but we were able to communicate effectively with the majority of businesses in town.”

In addition to logistics and emergency communication, the economic development team frequently sends targeted emails about programs and opportunities.

“Segmenting out businesses is helpful to communicate Urban Renewal programs or DDA programs.”

Being able to communicate with specific industries or groups of businesses ensures outreach remains relevant and effective.

Bringing the business community into one system

When Golden adopted Bludot, the transition process was straightforward because the city did not previously have a CRM for managing business relationships.

“We had no existing CRM for businesses in town, so the transition was very easy.”

Bludot allowed the economic development team to incorporate the full list of businesses registered with the City into a single platform.

“Bludot helped Economic Development staff incorporate all businesses filed with the City into the software.”

Having that centralized system makes it easier to track engagement, manage communication, and maintain an accurate view of the local business community.

Supporting Golden’s business community

For the City of Golden, economic development is built on strong relationships with local businesses and entrepreneurs.

Through consistent engagement, collaborative events, and clear communication, the Economic Development Department works to support businesses at every stage — from new startups to established companies.

By organizing business data and communication in one system, the team can stay closely connected to the community and respond quickly to the needs of local businesses.

To see what Bludot could do for your community, schedule some time with us.