Director of Economic Development
In July 2009, Democratic governor Bill Ritter named Marostica, a Republican, to the post of executive director of the Colorado Office of Economic Development and International Trade, replacing Don Elliman, who Ritter had tapped as Colorado's chief operating officer. Marostica resigned his House seat to take the position, and handed control of his development company to his partner and son in order to avoid conflicts of interest, Marostica named opening Asian markets to Colorado exports as a priority for his time in the new position, in addition to encouraging new venture capital investment and retaining existing major employers despite the late-2000s recession. Marostica was replaced in the House by small business owner Brian DelGrosso, and on the legislature's Joint Budget Committee by the more conservative Rep. Kent Lambert.
During Marostica's first months in the position, he helped lead Colorado's effort to keep Frontier Airlines jobs in Denver following its merger with Republic Airways; ultimately, Frontier moved several hundred jobs, and Frontier's headquarters, to Wisconsin and Indiana, which offered greater tax and econonmic incentives. When legislators proposed eliminating business tax credits in late 2009 to help balance the states budget, Marostica publicly defended many of those credits, but he did support limited cuts to tax credits in Governor Ritter's proposed 2010-2011 budget.
In late 2009, Marostica was also involved in attracting a wind turbine parts supplier to Colorado, announcing a renewed emphasis on natural gas development on Colorado's Western Slope, and pushing to speed the permitting process for oil and gas operations. In 2010, Marostica pushed for additional incentives for the "creative industry," including arts, media, and film, in Colorado.
Read more about this topic: Don Marostica
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