Dedicated to Building Stronger Communities

NWCDC works with our local, regional, and state partners to provide the following services at no cost to municipalities and political subdivisions in our three-county region, businesses looking to locate or expand in Northwest Colorado, and entrepreneurs: 

• Technical assistance, project management, economic development, and community development for municipalities and political subdivisions 
• Grant navigation, writing, and review
• Business consulting and project management
• Site selection assistance

Under its bylaws, the NWCDC's mission is to diversify our economies by promoting tourism, encouraging the stabilization and expansion of existing businesses, and to stimulate the development of new, environmentally benign, business and industry. 

Northwest Colorado will be a thriving economic center with a diverse economy, anchored by numerous outdoor recreation activities throughout the year, generation of power to fuel the western United States, diverse agricultural and food economic activity, and manufacturing.

NWCDC’s two goals are to enable economic transition and growth and to create a more livable region. Under these two goals are five priority areas, which include: 

• Economic Diversification and Transition
• Workforce Development
• Affordable Housing
• Access to Affordable Childcare
• Regional Transportation

NWCDC evolved from a previous long-standing agreement between partners under the Yampa Valley Economic Development Council. Under a revised intergovernmental agreement, the Towns of Yampa, Oak Creek, Rangely, and Meeker were included in the membership and the name changed to the Northwest Colorado Development Council (NWCDC) in May 2021. 

The updated IGA recognizes the shared assets and history of the region. Routt County, City of Steamboat Springs, Town of Hayden, Town of Oak Creek, Town of Yampa, Moffat County, City of Craig, Rio Blanco County, Town of Rangely, and Town of Meeker are located on the Yampa and White Rivers, two of the last relatively free-flowing rivers in Colorado, in an area with outstanding natural, scenic, environmental, recreational and wildlife resources.  

We are linked by common transportation corridors – Highway 40 between Denver and Salt Lake City, Highway 13 between Wyoming and the I-70 corridor, the Denver & Rio Grande Railway, and the Yampa Valley Regional Airport in Hayden. Our economies have been, in large part, dependent on coal and subject to the periodic booms and busts of the energy industry.

With the sunsetting of coal, it is imperative Northwest Colorado nurtures and grows new and existing industry sectors that will create new jobs to replace the 2,800 jobs that will be lost once five coal mines and two coal-fired power plants transition. 

With these goals in mind, NWCDC, its 10 voting members, partners, and stakeholders developed a Northwest Colorado Resiliency and Recovery Roadmap, funded by the Colorado Department of Local Affairs, Office of Economic Development and International Trade (OEDIT) and the Colorado Department of Labor and Employment (CDLE). The Roadmap was adopted in January 2023. 

NWCDC team later sought to identify coal transition strategies and initiatives that align with the organization’s broader shared regional economic development Roadmap. The Northwest Colorado Action Plan is funded by NACo’s Building Resilient Economies in Coal Communities.