It was late 2021 when the Colorado Springs Chamber & EDC announced Johnna Reeder Kleymeyer as its new president and CEO. As the Springs and nation reemerged from the COVID-19 pandemic, Reeder Kleymeyer hit the ground running to propel the local business community and economy forward, and she hasn’t slowed down since.
With a successful 25-year track record of collaborative, results-oriented executive leadership most recently in Louisville, Kentucky, and Cincinnati, Ohio, Reeder Kleymeyer quickly implemented new programs to attract talent and companies to the Pikes Peak region. Her emphasis on data-driven decision-making was evident in the inaugural State of the Chamber event in February. And she has made strides to strengthen diversity by solidified stronger collaboration with the Black Chamber of Commerce and the Hispanic Chamber of Commerce.
Fifteen months into her role, we sat down with Reeder Kleymeyer to get her insights on local business growth, new programs at the Chamber & EDC, her motivation and her experiences getting to know her new hometown.
Springs: The Chamber has enjoyed a recent string of big announcements about expansions in Colorado Springs by large companies, including Microchip, Entegris, Zivaro, Intuitive and others. Give us a quick summary. What does it mean for new and future job seekers?
Johnna Reeder Kleymeyer: 2022 was a record year for Colorado Springs and El Paso County. We have not seen numbers like that in 10 years of tracking data. We’ve taken a very proactive and strategic approach to economic development versus reactively waiting for projects to come to us. Colorado has been blessed for many years in that people just want to come here, so you did not have to be super aggressive when it came to incentives and such. But we all know that Colorado has changed in many ways. It’s much more expensive to live here. Housing availability is more limited. And at the state level, regulations on business have become more strenuous due to access to natural resources.
So we’ve really had to be thoughtful in who we are focused on and ask, “What are the prime industries with high paying jobs that we want to invest in for our region?” We want to be a community for all. And we want to work in what we call primary industry. Those are companies that export primarily outside of your region, because when you have that primary industry, the secondary industries come. The retail comes. The hospitals come. Those things that are population-based will come.
In 2022 we added over 2,000 new jobs and $750 million in capital investment. Already in 2023, we have announced Microchip’s $880 million in capital investment and 400 new high paying jobs — which is more capital investment than what we had in all of 2022. One of the best things is that most of these are existing companies that already have a footprint here. They are already engaged here, and they’re growing in place.
It’s exciting. These are great paying jobs. We believe our purpose is to help the economy grow. And you do that by having quality jobs where people can build generational wealth. They can send their kids to school because of a job. At the end of the day, that’s what gets us up and gets us excited every day to do what we do. All the rest is about supporting a strong business environment.
What are the top primary industries that you are targeting?
In April, we’re going through a cluster analysis, which evaluates your primary industry’s clusters. You need to focus on who are you as a community now and where you are going for the future. In addition, we’re doing a labor shed analysis to see how we do labor-wise because talent is key. That is the number one reason any company is looking at your area. Do you have the talent? Can you get the talent? And third, we’re doing a competitive analysis with four other regions and four other states. I think it’s important to know what the competition is doing, so either you can match up or know where your areas of improvement are.
The last study we did was in 2017. A lot has changed since then. But I still feel confident the leading company will be something in the defense sector. Will it be targeted in space technology or cybersecurity? Will it be some kind of high-tech defense equipment manufacturing? This study will help tell us, but we know that 44% of our economy in El Paso County comes from the defense sector. So I can’t imagine we wouldn’t continue to focus in that area.
We have had a strong year in manufacturing. Those are well paying jobs, solid middle-income jobs and companies that put steel in the ground. They don’t leave easily. We like manufacturing jobs, but for us as a community, we have to consider water and power resources because they are not unlimited as they are in some parts of the country. So we will see in manufacturing where we need to target. We had a strong year in semiconductors. The federal government is reshoring that industry, and we’ve taken full advantage of it.
But we will have to see what our studies show. I’m very big on data-driven decisions. If not, it’s just everyone’s opinion. We have a lot of people who are passionate about what used to be strong here, or what they think we should be doing in the future. We are going to start with the data, but I would see something in defense, something in manufacturing, something in technical services.
What are you most excited about in your work at the Chamber?
I’m always proud of our record. At the end of the day, everything we do is highly measurable. We want to show outcomes. Are we making a difference in our very important goals around housing, around business development, around talent attraction and retention? I’m very pleased in 15 months how welcoming the community has been and how I feel that this is my home too.
Secondly, I’m proud of our talent programs. We launched talent initiatives called Find Your COS (pronounced cause) a year ago to help fill the gap for many of our businesses that had interns coming in the summer but were struggling with finding safe and affordable housing for a three-month period. We also asked, “How do you help them fall in love with the region, not just that company?” So we do wraparound programming called Hello Colorado Springs. We partnered with Colorado College. We do social and professional programming. While interns work during the day at their companies, they also can enjoy and build a network at night through fun activities and access to decision-makers, retired generals and leaders they probably wouldn’t have access to at their age normally.
I think it’s important for us to cultivate young people to see themselves in Colorado Springs, whether they already live along the Front Range or are coming from a college or university outside of the state. I want to build on that. I want us to target historically Black colleges and universities. I want us to go after the talent we’re seeking in the diversity we want to bring to our region. Why not position our region for people to fall in love with it?
We also launched a concierge program under Find Your COS if your company is trying to bring a new executive to the region. I use this example: If you’re trying to recruit my 23-year-old daughter, I’m probably not the right one to sell her on this area. We have different interests, different demographics, different music taste, you name it. So we assign a concierge based on like demographics and interests to do an email, a phone call or even a red-carpet tour because we want to help our businesses recruit to the area.
We need to continue to grow. If you try to stand still, that’s not possible. The only thing constant, you know, is change. If not, we’ll go backward. We need to constantly be bringing people to the state and to the region to fill the existing jobs. But constantly there needs to be a talent pool because you have an ebb and flow of companies that will close and companies that will join.
Why do you do what you do?
I get excited about these things [like Find Your COS]. I feel we make a real difference, and I like knowing that we’re changing the community for the good and helping the next generation want to live here. I learned early in my career that I have to make a difference. I’m a change agent. I’m a fixer. I like to dive deep into problems and help find solutions. I’m a connector. I enjoy coaching, teaching, training our young talent and being a part of a winner. I enjoy seeing good things happen and knowing that I possibly helped contribute to that. I tried to go to the private sector a couple of times. You get lured away by the money, the resources [in the for-profit sector]. But I have to do meaningful work that makes a difference for a community.
What drew you to Colorado Springs?
My husband and I came here for our one-year anniversary years ago and hiked in Garden of the Gods. And I remember saying, “Can you believe people actually live here and get to do this every day?” But not in my wildest dreams, 15 years ago would I have thought about moving west. I had a successful career in the Midwest. But COVID-19 changed everything. It really made me question what I wanted to do and the lifestyle I wanted long term.
We did a lot of praying about it, and a headhunter called for Colorado Springs. We were really thinking we wanted to move west. I love hiking. I love to be outdoors. It gives me peace. My husband is a huge golfer, and we truly wanted to find more harmony in our life. The stereotype is correct about Midwesterners. The work ethic is amazing, but we don’t do much more than work. And I really wanted to find more harmony in my life. Being that I can walk right out my door and hike 10 miles downtown on beautiful trails was extremely enticing. So I guess I am like everyone else. The mountains called, and I answered.
What do you love most about Colorado Springs?
I love the outdoor lifestyle, but I also enjoy that this is a growing, thriving midsize city. I’ve lived in much bigger places where it’s hard to get things done because there are so many layers of bureaucracy. In my last position, I worked in three states and 15 counties — nothing like having three governors to satisfy. The idea that our metropolitan statistical area is two counties and the way that the utilities are municipally owned — it lends itself to making a difference quickly. You can move things along more at the speed of business.
It’s also a large enough city where there’s great entertainment, great food, and it’s growing in options for young people. But at the same time, it has a small-town spirit where we want to work together and solve problems quickly versus being divisive, as I’ve seen in some bigger places.
If you could wave a magic wand, what one thing would you improve or change about Colorado Springs?
If I could wave a magic wand, we would solve all the disparity in mental health issues when it comes to homelessness. Because first and foremost, we want to be a caring community. We want to house all the unhoused. I think that could solve many of the ill wills that you face in any city. But I don’t have a magic wand, and it’s much bigger than just building enough housing. We have to continue to work on all those issues because they are business issues, they’re safety issues, they’re cleanliness issues. They are first impressions when people visit our community.
Also, if I could wave my magic wand, we would build Sunset Amphitheater overnight, because I think that is going to be an absolute gem for our community. I can’t wait to enjoy some outdoor music with Pikes Peak in the background.
When you’re not working, what do you do for fun and enjoyment?
While it’s been an incredible, crazy wonderful 15 months where I’ve worked a lot, I have taken the time to be a tourist in my own city. We have done everything from Cave of the Winds and going up Pikes Peak three times now to Switchback games and hitting all those cool venues, the little back-alley bars and speakeasys here that have these quaint settings — they are like hidden gems in Colorado Springs. It’s been so fun to discover unique things that are now my hometown. The Broadmoor is one of the most beautiful places I have ever been. It’s magical, and it’s in our backyard. It’s not typical in most parts of the country that you are so close to so many options.
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