The La Plata Economic Development Alliance is continuing forward on programs dedicated to developing economic assets like workforce housing and child care access, said Sarah Tober, executive director of the alliance.
Tober presented the alliance’s accomplishments in 2025 to Durango City Council earlier this month.
She said the Regional Housing Alliance of La Plata County’s housing catalyst fund – managed by the alliance – contributed to two workforce housing projects in Durango.
The catalyst fund awarded $75,000 to the Lightner Creek Commons, a 29-unit below-market project planned for the site of the former Animas High School at 271 Twin Buttes Ave.
The fund also awarded $100,000 to Rivergate Lot 4 and 5, a project for 50 below-market units.
Tober said round 7 for catalyst fund awards is open and is expected to close later this month or in May.
The alliance has raised about $1.2 million for the catalyst fund and awarded about $600,000 since the fund’s creation, contributing to the development of 550 units across La Plata County, she said.
She said the alliance also continues to use a $1 million revolving loan fund also established under the Regional Housing Alliance.
Catalyst funding is awarded for predevelopment costs, while the revolving loan fund is for construction, she said.
Housing remains an essential need in communities across La Plata County, and so does child care.
Tober said the alliance has identified about $5.6 million for its Early Childcare Investment Fund, which is part of a strategy to create 260 new child care slots and increase child care center wages.
The commitments come from a number of sources, including:
Tober said the Early Childhood Council of La Plata County is working on a wage stipend for people employed in child care, and the alliance’s investment fund model is attracting attention from other communities around the state.
She said the state of federal child care funding and the Colorado budget makes local dollars “more important than ever.”
“Long-term, this has to be a state and/or federally funded initiative,” she said. “But I think that the work that we’re doing here is helping to stabilize the industry, it’s helping to grow it.”
She said new child care centers are opening, and so new child care slots are becoming available across the county.
“This is a new initiative and businesses are being very strategic in where they’re investing their dollars,” she said.
She said she is working with businesses to invest in the fund, and there are tax incentives for such investments.
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