DENVER — DENVER — Gov. Jared Polis announced his latest effort to hear directly from people across the state during his Build Back Stronger tour.
During the tour, the governor will travel to different regions of the state and listen to people from different industries on their needs in order to bounce back from the pandemic.
After a year of trying to stay afloat, many businesses across several industries are still fighting to stay alive. That’s the case for Amber Dyer, who opened a daycare business in her Aurora home two years ago.
"I had a total of eight kids because I am licensed to have six plus two school-agers and right now I have in my care, at this very moment, three," Dyer said.
More than 50% of her business was slashed because of the pandemic, she said.
"A lot of families got laid off, a lot of families are working from home so they don’t feel like they need to pay for childcare. They are keeping their kids home with them," said Dyer.
She’d like to see more people return to work in order for daycares to become a viable business once again.
Her perspective is one of many Polis wants to hear from during his Build Back Stronger tour across the state.
"There is a $1.9 trillion American Rescue Plan and how we choose to invest the Colorado part of that — both the part that comes from the state, the part that comes through local government, the part that comes through local agencies — will really help determine how rapid our recovery is," Polis said.
The governor’s goal is to meet with people across different industries in order to figure out how to distribute money from the American Rescue Plan.
For Christy Brant and her daughter Caitlin Marsh, the future of their furniture store, Lulu’s, is only partially dependent on decisions made at the state-level.
They’re seeing a major backlog from vendors across the country.
"When you tell somebody you can order this and you like this chair, but you want a different fabric, but you’re not going to get it until next November. —not everyone is willing to wait. We are very optimistic about our store. ... We’re actually looking to move to a bigger spot," Brant said.
The governor’s tour is set to begin on Sunday and will last until mid-April.
By the end of it, the goal is to help as many Coloradans build back stronger than before.