Five years ago, the Greater Arvada Chamber launched B.O.L.D. as a five-year initiative with a clear goal: test new ways to help businesses grow and thrive, prove they work, and scale them across the region. The B.O.L.D. Impact Report is now available and highlights what we accomplished together.
What businesses asked us to solve
In 2021, businesses named four barriers to growth: too few qualified workers, housing their employees couldn’t afford, childcare that kept parents out of the workforce, and a policy environment where their voice too often went unheard. B.O.L.D. organized our work around those barriers through five goals: Talent, Housing, Childcare, Advocacy, and Entrepreneurship.
Where we moved the needle
No single organization controls these systems. These are the results B.O.L.D. contributed to alongside many partners:
- Talent: Job posting duration fell for 8 of the 13 critical roles employers identified. Career Hubs, launched with Jeffco Public Schools, now operate in 75% of Jefferson County high schools. State work-based learning funding to 47 local businesses supported 335 participants and 58 new hires.
- Housing: 9 of the 10 Chamber-supported housing efforts that reached a decision received a favorable vote. Arvada added 2,595 housing units between 2022 and 2026, and 27% are affordable to households earning 70% of Area Median Income or less.
- Childcare: Licensed childcare slots in Jefferson County grew 6% (1,735 slots). When a federal freeze threatened $9 million, or 75%, of the county’s annual Child Care Assistance Program funding, we organized 12 local providers and took their case to federal elected officials.
- Advocacy: The share of bills where the outcome matched the Chamber’s position rose 31 percentage points between 2023 and 2026. Business leaders reviewed and took positions on 121 bills.
- Entrepreneurship: The Business Resource Center served 250 businesses and 808 individuals with free-to-low-cost training and support. Net new businesses in Arvada grew 69% between 2023 and 2025.
The Chamber’s role
Every part of B.O.L.D. followed the same discipline: test an idea small, prove it with real evidence, scale it sustainably, and then let it conclude or evolve into something new. That approach let us build lasting systems, not just run programs. We built urgency, formed coalitions of business, HR, and civic leaders willing to try something new, and anchored what worked in systems, cohorts, tools, and partnerships.
None of these challenges is solved outright. Each sits in a complex system shaped by forces well beyond any one organization. B.O.L.D. built the infrastructure for businesses to be part of the solution.
B.O.L.D. also showed that a local chamber is an effective, and arguably necessary, part of that infrastructure. Our day-to-day relationships with businesses let us surface their real concerns, rally them around solutions, and design resources they will actually use.
None of this happened because of the Chamber alone. It happened because businesses told us what they needed, public partners came ready to solve problems alongside us, and investors believed in the work.
What’s next
B.O.L.D. was never meant to be a finish line. It was meant to create momentum, and it did just that. B.O.L.D.’s success is why this work is now scaling county-wide. The Greater Arvada Chamber, Jeffco EDC, and regional partners developed a regional plan based on conversations with business leaders, chambers, and economic development organizations rooted in what businesses need today to thrive and grow. Once the plan is refined and finalized, a campaign to fund it is anticipated to launch in November 2027. Under the plan, Jeffco EDC would add support for the Greater Arvada Chamber and others that choose to join, including a coordinated regional business voice on county, state, and national issues, broader promotion of Arvada Chamber events, ready-to-use resources, and strategic regional collaboration. Both organizations are adjusting staff and structure so this work can scale without disrupting the services Arvada businesses rely on.
What this means for Arvada businesses
The Greater Arvada Chamber will continue the local work you count on, from the Business Resource Center to events, networking, and local advocacy. Arvada businesses keep everything they have today and add a county-wide network. More details will be shared in November.
Every result in this report started with local businesses engaging: naming their challenges, testing solutions, and speaking up when decisions were made. That engagement matters even more as this work scales.
The Greater Arvada Chamber has long led the way in meeting business needs in innovative ways. With the foundation B.O.L.D. built and a plan to scale with more partners, we’re just getting started.
Stay involved
Want to stay up to date on where this work is headed and how to get involved? Join our Talent Newsletter.
If you already receive our Childcare or Housing newsletters, you’ll be added automatically in 2027. We’re combining all three newsletters next year because they share one goal: to build the community infrastructure that helps businesses attract and retain quality talent in a community that has an adequate supply of quality childcare and affordable housing so they can build their lives here.
If you have any questions, contact info@arvadachamber.org.
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