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History

In 1870 a group of forward thinking businessmen identified 60,000 acres in Colorado.  After careful planning and successful marketing, the Chicago-Colorado Colony, encompassing 640 acres, was created in the summer of 1871.  It was later named Longmont in recognition of nearby Longs Peak.

Longmont’s founders were drawn by open spaces, the opportunity to create a new and successful community, and quality soil.  One of the most critical challenges to be addressed, was the creation of effective irrigation to allow the citizens to grow crops, trees and gardens.  Due to the leadership and hard work of those early businessmen, Longmont was soon a thriving community.  Agriculture continued to be a base of Longmont’s success for nearly 100 years.

Subsequent generations of business men, and women, have sustained and advanced that vision.  Today Longmont is the envy of sister cities, a community with a unique lifestyle, a city where the voices of business are heard and where free enterprise is an honored endeavor.

As businesses have thrived, all Longmont citizens have benefited.

Our history is replete with stories of how successful, forward-thinking business people have taken the lead in shaping and growing our community.  By putting the public’s interests ahead of their own, they proven many times over that the quality of a community is measured by the strength of its economic foundation.    Only with a strong and thriving business environment can a community support the arts, recreation, social services and all of the other amenities are important to our residents. 

Longmont could have been like many other communities along the Front Range, another bedroom community from which most people commuted to other areas.  But by staying true to our founders’ vision, we’ve built our own special place.  We’ve captured the best of all worlds.  When you say you live and work in Longmont, you’ve said it all.

Yet all that we’ve gained and all the promise and opportunities still ahead can be lost.

Concerned citizens worry that Longmont’s fundamental strengths are being eroded.  Budget shortfalls, endless studies, lawsuits and rancor among and about leadership are taking us off course.  Too many people lack appreciation for or understanding of the fundamentals of private business.  They minimize the importance of supporting the engine that has made Longmont so successful.  All too frequently we hear that business is something that is bad and needs to be rigidly controlled, curtailed or systematically regulated to the point of no or negative growth.

The stakes are too high for the trend to continue.  Absent a business-friendly environment, Longmont will slowly fade to the days of being a bedroom community for more far-sighted neighbors.

Longmont Investing For Tomorrow (LIFT) has been formed to stand up for our strengths, to educate and inform our community on issues that impact a positive business environment.  We will also mentor future leaders who understand and embrace this vital concept. 

Currently LIFT is comprised of over 100 individuals who share the common thought that Longmont is best served when its leadership subscribes to  and promotes a pro-business philosophy.  As a non-partisan, 501(c)(4) non-profit organization, we are dedicated to preserving and advancing the positives of Longmont, from our quality of life to our economic foundations.

LIFT is about making informed, forward thinking decisions to promote Longmont now and in the future.  We will advocate issues and support individuals sharing our philosophy.  We look forward to complementing existing pro-business organizations and assisting them in the attainment of well-defined goals.  We invite all interested parties to join our grassroots effort. 

Longmont was founded by people who consistently made solid decisions supporting business, knowing that was the way to benefit the total community.  Longmont has enjoyed the dividends of such decisions. LIFT is carrying on that tradition.  

If you would like more information or would like to get involved, please let us know – we look forward to hearing from you!