Progress Now Action

I opened the Denver Post on Tuesday to find an article entitled "Ritter forms business council".  Link  As a small businessperson I was intrigued. Who was there representing my interests – a progressive small business. Try as I might, I could not find a list of the people on the council. However, the article did list the co-chairs of the council - Pat Vincent, president of Xcel Energy's Colorado operations and Rick Sapkin, chairman of the business lobbying group Colorado Concern.

Vincent was easy – a representative of big business and certainly not my friend or ally. But, I have to admit my ignorance of Colorado Concern. So, I started looking around. What did I find – Colorado Concern is another representative of big business – it donors are 80 chief executives. See, Denver Business Journal Link  In fact, Jessica Peck Cory, a policy analyst with the Independence Institute in Golden, describes Colorado Concern: as “the godfather of big business groups in Colorado.” Link

Where does a small progressive business fit in to your plans, Bill?

Update:  Well the list is out.  Not a single representative of small business let alone a true progressive political philosophy:

"The Business Advisory Group will be a bi-partisan effort to work on business issues that are in the best interests of Colorado," said Pat Vincent, president and CEO of Public Service Co. of Colorado, an Xcel Energy company. "We will look at economic development opportunities that benefit all residents in all parts of the state."

"Other members include: Reeves Brown, head of the Western Slope’s Club 20 organization; Rob Cohen, chairman and CEO of the IMA Financial Group Inc. and chair of the Metro Denver Chamber of Commerce board; Hubert Farbes, an attorney with Brownstein Hyatt and Farber; Craig Ferraro, partner and CFO of East West Partners; John Ikard, president and CEO of FirstBank Holding Co.; Walter Isenberg, founder of Sage Hospitality; Annette Quintana, co-founder of TeamExcel Inc.; Ann Sperling, former senior managing director of Trammell Crow Co.; Wellington Webb, former mayor of Denver and head of The Webb Group."