Gov. Polis Meets With Small Business Owners In Pueblo, Salida And Cañon City

By Julia Fennell, Colorado Newsline

Sept. 27, 2021

Gov. Jared Polis met with small businesses in Pueblo, Salida and Cañon City on Friday as part of Colorado’s “Powering the Comeback Tour.”

“It was exciting to visit small businesses and hear from community leaders in Salida, Pueblo and Cañon City about building back better,” Polis said in a press release. “We know our economy is roaring back and working with the communities I visited today we will continue to create a Colorado where everyone thrives today, tomorrow and for years to come.”

Polis had breakfast at the Little Red Hen Bakery, and met with the owners of the bakery and the Book Haven, both small businesses in Salida, a small city in central Colorado.

Polis, Colorado Department of Corrections Executive Director Dean Williams, and Cañon City Mayor Ashley Smith visited the Hotel St. Cloud in Cañon City. The hotel was previously a film set for silent-era films, and was also the first hotel with electricity in Colorado, according to the press release. The St. Cloud Hotel was awarded a Colorado Community Revitalization Grant, which provides gap funding for projects in “creative districts, historic districts, main streets or neighborhood commercial centers,” according to the Colorado Office of Economic Development and International Trade website.

In Pueblo, Polis, Department of Local Affairs Executive Director Rick Garcia, Senate President Leroy Garcia, House Majority Leader Daneya Esgar, and Pueblo Mayor Nick Gradisar discussed “the importance of affordable housing,” according to the press release.

Polis, Garcia, Esgar and Gradisar also toured a redevelopment site in Pueblo that will become a restaurant incubator and food hall, child care program, and affordable housing.

Polis visited the Pueblo Chile Festival and stopped by Papa Mario’s Food Truck, which was the winner of the inaugural Governor’s Plate, according to the press release. The Governor’s Plate is a competition that highlights Colorado-grown food. Competitors partnered with Colorado Proud, a Colorado Department of Agriculture program that allows consumers to see what food has been grown in Colorado, to use Colorado-grown ingredients in their dishes, according to an Aug. 3 press release, where Polis announced the competition.

The Governor’s Plate winner was a Panfili grilled cheese, from Papa Mario’s Grilled Cheese Food Truck. The grilled cheese was made with ingredients from Musso Farms and Springside Cheese, both Colorado Proud partners, according to an Aug. 31 press release.

The Powering the Comeback Tour is meant to support businesses in Colorado that take steps to reduce the spread of COVID-19 by providing economic assistance.

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