Avon to rendezvous with local businesses ahead of a busy summer of projects, events
The meeting will give businesses the opportunity to learn about the town’s projects and projections for the summer as well as the opportunity to provide input
Special to the Daily
As part of its preparations for a busy summer season, the town of Avon is hosting an outlook meeting for local business owners. The meeting, which will take place at the Westin Riverfront Hotel on May 26, will give businesses the opportunity to learn about the town’s projects and projections for the summer as well as the opportunity to provide input and express concerns.
Mayor Sarah Smith-Hymes, Town Manager Eric Heil and various town department directors will provide an overview of visitor projections and pending projects in Avon that impact local businesses.
“We’re going to try and provide a really good overview of all the information the town has collected with our tax revenues as well as the projects that we’re working on so that everyone has a good idea on what we’re working on the town government side of things this summer,” Heil said.
Discussions for the event include updates on special events, capital improvement projects and a review of town goals and programs. These discussions are particularly important as the town both recovers from the impact of last summer and as it prepares for a busier than ever summer.
At its March 23 meeting, the Avon Town Council unanimously supported a return to a full schedule of summer events. “That’s something we can do on our side to help bring visitors in and help bring back our economy as quickly as we can,” Heil said. “We’re anticipating a pretty busy summer.”
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According to Heil, other projects that might impact businesses this summer include a number of road improvement projects as well as the town’s continual investment in improving Nottingham Park.
“A lot of these road improvements really enhance the town but it’s important that we coordinate them so that they minimize conflicts with businesses and particularly with our visitor economy,” Heil said. “We know from our hotel bookings — and this is really no different from Vail or Beaver Creek — that July and August we’re pretty much booked solid and so we’re trying to minimize whatever road work or improvements we’re doing at that time and try to minimize the impacts that might have in the peak of the summer season.”
Other topics sure to be discussed are the continual impacts of COVID-19 on business as well as how businesses can coordinate and cooperate with the town’s climate action goals.
Avon has hosted similar business outlook meetings in past springs, but plans to introduce a fall meeting as well to discuss winter outlooks, Heil said. These meetings provide a unique opportunity for the local government to interact with its business entities in lieu of an Avon-specific chamber of commerce.
“It’s important for us to get that direct input straight from businesses,” Heil said.
The business outlook meeting will take place on Wednesday, May 26 at 5:30 p.m. at the Westin Riverfront Hotel in Avon.