Acknowledgements

I can't believe that a year has passed since we officially incorporated the Mile High Business Alliance. I have so much more compassion for entrepreneurs and business owners than I ever thought possible. It takes so much to take an idea, a vision, a plan - and create something viable, living and real.

In the last twelve months, we've accomplished a lot together. We've published 40,000 walking guides for five Denver neighborhoods, featuring 342 one-of-a-kind businesses. We renewed the Inventing Business Series as a forum for dialogue about business and community. We facilitated marketing workshops specifically aimed at businesses with small budgets and a lot of passion. We built and launched the first interactive business directory to feature truly local businesses - 430,000 of them. (wow!) We started the ball rolling for a fun Colorado Local First media campaign that connects us to our local businesses. We've created partnerships with inspiring organizations and companies that love our local businesses as much as we do. We've done all of this with very little resources and a small (but mighty) staff. Yay, us!

Acknowledgments
None of this could have been accomplished without the contributions, work, dedication and support of the following people to whom I offer my gratitude:

• Arthur Brock, Co-Founder and board member, for the countless hours (and I mean countless) spent in making the business alliance a reality, and for all the times he's reassured me that we can make this happen
• Neil Strandberg, Board President, for his fearless leadership, his confidence in us, and willingness to ask really good questions
• Anne Richardson and Mike Vallano, graphic design geniuses, for the hundreds of hours and creative talent dedicated to the Colorado Local First campaign and Local Flavor Guides, and for their bold partnership in the face of the unknown
• Sarah Wells, Heidi Baltzer, Tim Martinez and Matt Chasansky, founding members of the board, who have each taken a stand for local businesses
• Sarah Marden, Membership Coordinator, for her dedication, humor and commitment
• Amy Krok, for her crazy enthusiasm
• Rachelle Macur, Eva Saviano and Michael Marshall, MHBA Interns, for their contributions and willingness to challenge themselves
• Glenda Walden, Nancy Peterson, Adrienne Anderson and Jim Ruberto, for their personal support and for volunteering around events and special projects
• The Founding Members of the business alliance: The Tattered Cover, Twist & Shout, Geek Gene, Local Flavor Marketing Group, Meininger's, Mike's Camera, Cafe Europa, 5 Green Boxes and Community Banks of Colorado - for their investment in building a viable organization and healthier local economy. You are the foundation of the business alliance.
• The City of Denver's Office of Economic Development, Founding Sponsors, for their promotion, time and support
• Denoak Realty, IndyInk, St. Charles Town Company, The Hornet, Great Divide Brewery, METROMODE Magazine, The D Note and The Onion for being sponsors of the Local Flavor Guides and Colorado Local First campaign
• The Digital Frontier, for their extraordinary print work and excellent customer service
• The National BALLE organization - for your leadership and resources; but most importantly, for challenging me to prove that Denver is working to build a local, living economy.
• And, finally, to all the members of the Mile High Business Alliance - thank you for your participation, your commitment, and most importantly, for the hard work you do every day to provide goods and services to our community, for spaces we love to be in, and jobs for our neighbors. You aren't thanked often enough for the grueling work it is to be in business, and for all of you who do it with passion and love.

The business alliance is less about local first campaigns and marketing workshops - and more about building solid relationships that matter. It's about working together to build a community we love to live in. Thank you (yes, YOU) for providing me with the opportunity to get to know you more, and work on something I am so passionate about.