2023 GBC Policy Impact Report

Who We Are

GBC was founded in 2017 by business owners to advance policies that drive social and economic change and to fill a gap in small, minority, and rural business perspectives at the Colorado Capitol and in other policy-making arenas. Our members range in size, demographics, industry and geographical location throughout Colorado. Since inception, we’ve helped hundreds of business owners navigate the legislative process and take action on policies that support their employees, protect the environment, and strengthen communities.

“I have loved being a member of GBC for the past 3 years. They help me stay active in my local community, and give me the opportunity to make my voice heard on the matters most important to me. They are a well-run organization that makes a difference in Colorado, and I am proud that Sheets & Giggles was an early member.”
-Colin McIntosh, Sheets & Giggles

Inclusive Member-led Decision Making

Each year we survey our members about their top policy priorities, and we call through our membership rolls to ensure at least 50% participation overall and equitable representation of members from BIPOC, LBGTQ+, disabled or rural communities. Our 2023 legislative agenda reflected their top priorities: climate, equity, healthcare, and housing

“Amazing organization that ACTUALLY listens to its members and gets things done!”
-Aaron Zimola, Zova Marketing

When deciding on specific bills to support, we reach out to individual members as thought partners, as well as convening member task forces to make recommendations to our member-comprised Policy Council. This year we reached out to more thought partners , expanding opportunities for member input. We were able to offer modest compensation in all three roles as part of our DE&I strategy.

by the numbers

• 196 member survey participants

• 67 review & feedback activities

• 23 Thought Partner and Task Force Members

• 18 Policy Council Members

We supported successful climate bills to: strengthen Colorado's greenhouse gas reduction targets and add interim goals; ensure our utilities are meeting greenhouse gas reductions goals, reducing pollution, and moving away from price-volatile natural gas, as well as prohibiting them from passing lobbying and advertising expenses on to ratepayers; improve the water and energy efficiency of commercial buildings; support workers and employers in making the needed workforce transitions from oil and gas industry to new and emerging industries, such as solar, electrification and clean heat; and cultivate the use or study of Agrivoltaics, Aquavoltaics, and regenerative farming.

We supported successful healthcare bills to: guarantee safe access to the full range of reproductive healthcare services in Colorado; expedite effective treatment for patients with serious mental illness; prohibit facilities fees on telehealth visits, preventive services and primary care and provide cost transparency for patients; cap the price of life saving Epinephrine Auto-injectors; helping consumers easily find and compare plans that could lower their out-of-pocket healthcare costs; save people money on out of pocket prescription drug costs; and increase consumer protections in healthcare.

We supported successful housing bills to: save people time and money when applying to multiple landlords in their search for housing; allow for remote participation in residential eviction cases; create a tax exemption for non-profit affordable housing providers; and increase the effectiveness of public/private partnerships and collaboration on housing.

Innovation

This year we executed on three innovative strategies to engage more people more fully in our policy work by making them “fun, fast, and fulfilling.”

Policy Pinky Parties

We wanted to demystify the legislative process for people who would not otherwise be interested in policy, so we partnered with a BIPOC member who owns a nail salon to host three fun, casual events with game-based opportunities for policy education and input. These included two events at the member’s location with policy bingo, carnival games, and policy “heads or tails,” and a scavenger hunt at the capitol. At all events, attendees had an opportunity to have their pinky fingers “blinged out” and make a “pinky promise” to take action.

Post Session Storytelling Event

We wanted to try something more engaging for our post legislative session wrap event. Rather than inviting legislators to talk about what happened, or running through a slideshow of our legislative agenda, we recruited members who had taken impactful action to tell their stories. This gave us an opportunity to communicate our agenda as a story with meaningful and relatable moments.

Policy Pitchfest

For our first signature bill, we wanted members to be involved from the very beginning, so we organized a Policy Pitchfest. In early summer we asked members of the GBC community to submit policy ideas and they responded with 20 submissions! A selection committee of members narrowed the field down to 7, after which we recruited a team and a mentor to develop each idea. The teams then pitched their idea to a panel of current Colorado state legislators in October at our first ever GBC “Level Up Academy” Conference. The legislators picked 3 finalists and the GBC membership voted on which one would be our signature legislation in 2024.

by the numbers

• 3 Pinky Parties

• 7 Member Storytellers

• 20 Pitchfest Ideas Submitted

• 17 Pitchfest Team Members

• 7 Mentors

• 8 Legislator Judges