For the past several months, I have written about business in Boulder and throughout Colorado with a particular focus on businesses with an impactful or sustainable mission. These businesses have run the gamut from technology to consumer products to non-for-profits. The Colorado Impact Initiative is a push to bring many of the diverse impact businesses in Colorado together in one place at one time. The culmination of the Initiative’s will be the Colorado Impact Days, a public showcase and investor-focused event to highlight many of the impact businesses in Colorado. While it is important to give attention to impact businesses individually, the Colorado Impact initiative is a powerful way to galvanize those in the impact investment community around a common cause: to make Colorado and the world a better place.

Colorado Impact Days:

“[E]levates and accelerates impact investing in Colorado by facilitating education, networking, and partnerships among investors, entrepreneurs, and practitioners. Conceived by thought leaders with local, regional, and national reputations, the CO Impact Initiative is intended to engage investors and philanthropists in driving new capital into communities. The CO Impact Initiative gives focused investors the confidence, tools and connections to take action in new, powerful ways.”

The initiative was founded by the Impact Finance Center and its most significant event takes place next week on Friday, March 4^th at the Ellie Caulkins Opera House in Denver. The event will feature 60 Colorado social ventures and it will give those ventures access to over 300 impact investors and 45 business coaches. The afternoon session is open to the public and tickets are available at the links featured above. Over $100 million is slated to be put to work through this initiative and this event. For anyone who has been following my column or has an interest in the impact or sustainable business sector, this event will be one of the most noteworthy of the year. By combining community, real investment dollars, and socially responsible businesses, the Colorado Impact Initiative is striving to create real positive change for the future of our state.

Sara Baris Lead Business Blogger