LEADVILLE — This summer bikers, teachers, entrepreneurs, professors, high school runners and SWAT team members will spend time at conferences or events in Leadville, spreading their dollars throughout the community.

Leadville's residential Colorado Mountain College campus hosts some 500 summer attendees for educational meetings for such groups as Air Force Academy instructors, water and wastewater officials, Colorado State University Elderhostel participants and high school cross-country track teams.

Visitors usually stay in the residence halls and eat many meals in the campus dining hall, which supports steady summer employment for workers on campus. But visitors also find plenty of time to spend money in Leadville stores, restaurants and bars during their extended stays. Conference participants take advantage of local recreation by hiking, renting bikes or going rafting or horseback riding during open afternoons.

Research conducted by Colorado Mountain College has shown that for every local tax dollar it receives, the college returns $6.84 to the local economy. This can be through institutional expenditures for goods and services, employee and student spending, and campus rentals and conferences.

Conferences pull visitors into town

Skip Lee, dean of student affairs at CMC-Timberline in Leadville, said the campus has had a steady conference business since the late 1980s. Timberline hosts 10 to 12 conferences per summer, benefiting from $130,000 in gross revenues during the summer of 2008. Participation took a slight hit this summer because of the recession, but administrators still expect to gross approximately $123,000.

“Usually from early June until early August we have at least one conference a week. Sometimes there are two,” Lee noted.

Californian Ed Nuhfer, founder of the Boot Camp for Profs residential workshop and retreat for college professors, has scheduled his conference for 40 people at the Leadville campus for 10 years. He said he finds the staff accommodating, the atmosphere supportive, the scenery beautiful and the dorm rooms nice, each with private bathrooms.

“We've never found a place better,” Nuhfer said. “We've always had great experience with the people at CMC.”

Timberline's Lee said the college also supports hotels and motels in the area by offering overflow accommodations for events such as Ride the Rockies or the Bicycle Tour of Colorado, after all the local properties are filled.

“With those kinds of events not related to Colorado Mountain College, we will work with the chamber to provide additional spaces so those events can stay in Leadville,” Lee said. “I think some of the groups would go to other communities if they couldn't come to CMC.”

With space for more than 100 people at the residence hall, the campus allows the town to host larger summer events with participation beyond the town's 378 pillow count, said Heather Scanlon, executive director of the Leadville/Lake County Chamber of Commerce.

“I think CMC's services are much needed,” Scanlon said. “They are broadening our economic base during the summer with the conferences that they host.”

Some tourists may stay longer in town or even plan their summer vacation around some of the fun continuing education classes at the college, such as Hiking through History or Rock Hounding, said Judy Green, community and corporate learning manager at the campus.

Supporting local businesses

The college offers other programs to support local businesses that in turn keep the local economic engine running. The Customized Business Services (CBS) program, which began on campus in fall 2007, offers local classes to meet business training needs. Businesses in Lake and Chaffee counties save money when employees do not have to travel for training.

This summer, CBS kept busy coordinating workshops for Heart of the Rockies Regional Medical Center in Salida and will host trainings for employees at St. Vincent Hospital in Leadville. In late August, the campus will host a five-day, FBI training for SWAT team members.

“It makes the employees much more efficient, effective and better at their jobs,” said Green, who coordinates the CBS program. “It helps the hospital retain and attract customers and patients by doing what they do better.”

The chamber's Scanlon said her organization and the college have partnered on several well-received workshops for the business community. Green added that local instructors are used for classes whenever possible.

“It's keeping money in the community with local instructors who then often gain new clients for their businesses due to their exposure as an instructor of a noncredit class,” Green said. “We are trying to help the businesses any way we can.”