Tayer: Celebrate Good Times: 120 Years of Business Leadership

Originally published by BizWest on March 4, 2025. 

“There’s a party going on right here
A dedication to last throughout the years
So bring your good times and your laughter too
We gon’ celebrate and party with you” 

– “Celebration,” Kool & The Gang

The Boulder Chamber is turning 120 and we’re ready to celebrate our organization’s legacy of service to the Boulder economy and community. Even more important, it will be a tribute to the individual business leaders who, as they did 120 years ago and continue to this day, help shape the Boulder we love.

As someone who has the opportunity to check the pulse of our Boulder business community, there’s no question these are anxious-making times. I reference the recent BizWest CEO Roundtable comments of Aaron Spear, Boulder market president for Bank of Colorado, as indicative of the general disposition: “I don’t know what’s going to happen with interest rates, but I’m pretty sure you don’t know either.”

For over 120 years, though, we’ve weathered all sorts of economic uncertainty and a few calamities. The very founding of the Boulder Chamber had its roots in the need to diversify Boulder’s economy beyond its unstable mining industry focus. The answer was tourism, and a determined group of business leaders would form in 1905 as the Boulder Commercial Association to champion construction of the luxury Hotel Boulderado to house a more discerning visitor clientele.

Sifting through the pages of the Boulder Chamber’s first membership ledger, it’s not surprising to identify the famed business leaders from that era whose vision of economic vitality we still benefit from today. Their names resonate in businesses that still operate and as the moniker for parks and historic buildings — like Ebin G. Fine, Lucius Paddock and Hanah Barker — all who were committed to the Boulder Chamber’s mission: “To establish Boulder as a booming metropolis and the best place to live and work.”

That economic vitality work of the Boulder Chamber continued in the wake of World War II, as our local business leaders were compelled to generate job opportunities for the community’s youth. One particular business leader, Franny Reich — the 39-year Boulder Chamber president (and sporting the title I envy, “Mr. Chamber”) — pursued three major initiatives, under the simple, yet clear title, “Progress Campaign.” The recruitment of our very first technology company (the forerunner of what would become Neodata), the first federal laboratory (now the National Institute for Standards and Technology) and a direct roadway link between Boulder and Denver (you now know it as U.S. Highway 36) are due to Franny’s leadership.

And it was just a few short years ago that we were working our way through the terrible human and business toll of the COVID-19 pandemic. The Boulder Chamber was fortunate to have the support of local business leaders — including our health-care agencies, restaurants and catering shops, and pharmaceutical companies — all working together to balance public safety with the desperate need to keep our critical businesses functioning. In many cases, business leadership during those days looked more like heroics.

So, while we may find ourselves in unsettling times, we can take solace in the recognition that our business community enjoys a legacy of facing down economic challenges and seizing opportunities that stands at least as long as the Boulder’s Chamber’s 120 years. The Boulder Chamber certainly takes pride in its role as this community’s cornerstone economic vitality champion, now sharing the work with a number of other economic vitality partner organizations. Yet, we are only as strong as the sum of our parts — that being the business leaders who generate successful enterprises, help us identify the next economic opportunities, and stand with us in support of collective efforts to create the environment for a thriving economy and community.

It is in the spirit of appreciation for the business leaders of today who are setting the course for our future vitality that we’re excited for a special 120th anniversary edition of our annual Celebration of Leadership. This year, we will recognize individuals who are relatively new players in the Boulder economic ecosystem, such as our Rising Star award nominees Sristy Agrawal from Mesa Quantum, Kriste Peoples of the Women’s Wilderness, and Mackenzie Sehlke of the Boulder County Farmers Market. At the same time, we’ll have the chance to honor someone for a lifetime of achievement who is familiar to anyone with an understanding of his economy-shaping business savvy and philanthropic heart, Stephen Tebo.

We hope you can join us for this 120th anniversary celebration of business leadership that the Boulder Chamber has been proud to help steward, through the brightest of times and amidst the greatest of difficulties for our economy and community.  You can register at https://bit.ly/3DgmGIU and “we gon’ celebrate and party with you.”