A plan designed to strengthen the economic resolve of the Steel City and make Pueblo a dynamic community was unveiled Monday.
The 257-page “One Pueblo” plan was born out of a collaboration among 21 agencies that are a part of the Business Economic and Recovery Team. The team formed in March to help businesses survive through the coronavirus pandemic.
After a slew of interviews, surveys and meetings, staff with Ady Advantage the firm hired to help pull together the city’s economic development vision identified key elements critical to the economic recovery in Pueblo.
“Some of the best and brightest days are ahead for our community,” said Steven Trujillo, director of the Pueblo Latino Chamber of Commerce.
After a strong 2019 in which more than 130,000 people visited Pueblo s Sangre de Cristo Arts and Conference Center, the center was off to another hot start in 2020.
Sangre de Cristo CEO Jim Richerson said 2020 started out “just great” for the nonprofit center as it seemed to be firing on all cylinders.
But then came the COVID-19 pandemic.
“Friday, March 13 we got the call from the county and the health department that basically said due to the (COVID-19) pandemic, we’re shutting down,” Richerson said.
“That first weekend was unbelievable how we had to man the phones, just canceling all kinds of things. We had two performances that weekend we had to cancel. We had a wedding. But there was nothing we could do.