School News: Staff to ask Commerce City Council to Extend Incentive Program... Permanent Incentive Program on the Horizon...

Students at Landmark academy at reunion celebrate first annual latin culture week

Landmark Academy at Reunion , a tuition-free public charter school, recently hosted their First Annual Latin Culture Week, a week focused on educating students on the various aspects of Latin culture, from music and art to sports and celebrities, through unique activities. During the week-long celebration, students were able to step into the lives of the Aztecs, Incas and Mayans with Latin culture lessons through piñata making, cultural crafts, songs, traditional foods and more. Students made maracas and learned a traditional Mexican Hat Dance; created Aztec suns working with metal tooling; and studied different countries in Mexico , Central America and South America . Aztec dancers from the Colorado Folk Arts Council also visited with students and educated them on the spiritual and traditional aspects of Aztec culture through dance. “We reside in a community with strong Latin and Hispanic roots,” said Matt Carlton, principal of Landmark Academy at Reunion . “Our community culture is important to us at Landmark. By providing unique ways for our students to learn the various backgrounds of our diverse community they are able to understand and appreciate different cultures.” For more information about Landmark Academy at Reunion , please visit www.landmarkacademy.org.

August 18, 2011

Staff to ask Commerce City Council to Extend Incentive Program... Permanent Incentive Program on the Horizon...

On May 24, 2010, Commerce City Council passed a resolution to accept the recommendations of the Business Advancement Task Force and approve certain rebates for Economic Development in Commerce City. The intent of the program was to attract new businesses and help existing businesses expand to stimulate economic growth in Commerce City. The program has been well received. While the national and state economy are slowly showing signs of recovery, more businesses are planning for growth. An extension of the program is warranted to provide a tool to continue to attract new businesses, help existing businesses that are planning to expand and provide an incentive to homeowners for improving homes in the city.

Commerce City staff is asking City Council to extend this program through October 31, 2011. During the coming weeks, Economic Development staff will analyze program results, present the results to the Economic Development Business Advisory Committee (EDBAC) on September 7, and to the Citizen Advisory Committee (CAC) on September 28, seek recommendations from the committees, and present the recommendations regarding a permanent incentive program to City Council in October. An extension of the existing program is needed in order to allow for the acceptance of incentive applications during this review period. Economic Development anticipates the submittal of applications by various existing and prospective businesses in the months of September and October. Rather than put the program on hold during this review time, city staff recommend that City Council extends the program through October 31, 2011; at which time, staff will make recommendations to council for a permanent incentive program.