Business Monday briefs: Mountain Chamber Alliance expands; Timberline gets state honor

Valley chambers join alliance

Chambers of commerce in the Roaring Fork and Colorado River Valleys recently announced their entrance into the Mountain Chamber Alliance.

Those chambers — in Aspen, Basalt, Carbondale, Colorado River Valley and Glenwood Springs — join other chambers in the alliance from Buena Vista, Crested Butte/Mt. Crested, Grand Lake, Gunnison, Gypsum, Salida, Steamboat, Summit and Vail.

The organization was created to help advance public policy goals that enhance economic vitality and oppose those that negatively impact the communities and businesses across the mountain region.

“A regional collaboration allows us to better represent local business needs on a state level,” said ACRA President and CEO Debbie Braun in a statement. “Counties across the central Rockies are facing similar challenges, and working collaboratively to support our communities makes all of us stronger.”

The mission of the MCA is to apply the collaborative impact of the chambers of commerce across the central Rockies, including the thousands of businesses and employees they represent, to ensure the mountain communities have a voice on regional and state issues of importance.

The MCA has identified key priority items that are common themes impacting the mountain region. These include workforce housing, transportation, early child care, tourism funding and destination management, short-term rentals, workforce development, broadband and health care.

For more information on the Mountain Chamber Alliance, contact Angie Anderson at 970-945-0784 or angie@glenwoodchamber.com.

Timberline Bank receives honor

Timberline Bank was named as Colorado’s 7(a) Small Lender of the year during the SBA National Small Business Week, co-hosted by the city and county of Denver, Denver Economic Development & Opportunity.

“We are humbled and excited to be named for this award. But Timberline should be thanking the SBA for their support to our small business, which is locally owned and operated. They are an essential partner to so many small businesses in Colorado,” said Timberline President Louise Goodman during her acceptance speech May 6.

“It is an honor to be presented with this award for serving small businesses and especially gratifying since Timberline Bank is a small business,” said Pedersen.

National Small Business Week has been hosted annually since 1953 to encourage small business owners and enable them to learn from fellow small businesses.