Speaker numbers apply only to this recording. Names come from transcript evidence. “Possibly” marks uncertain attribution.
The Grand Junction City Council convened on May 20, 2026 at 5:30 PM for a regular meeting. Key topics included a presentation from the Business Incubator Center, a proclamation for National EMS Week, public comments on homelessness and camping ordinances, and approval of several land use and code amendments. The meeting also addressed procurement items and a contract for water tank recoating.
Councilmember Ballard, this is Celestina. Would you like to do a sound check? Can you hear me? I can hear you. Thank you so much. Councilmember Stout, would you like to do a sound check? Sound check, check check. All right, it is five thirty, and we will bring the May 20th City Council meeting to order. Okay. And um with that, we will go ahead and stand for the Pledge of Allegiance and a moment of silence. Okay, as uh we are going to kick off our evening with a presentation from the Business Incubator Center. And we have uh Chief Executive Officer, uh Dalita here to present. There she is. She just walked in. Walked right up. Perfect timing. All right. Good evening, everyone, and thank you for having me here. It's hard to find parking today. Um I'm looking at everyone here. But I'm really happy to be here and to do three things today. Start with a presentation about the business incubator and what we have done in this past year, and also celebrate 40 years together of partnership, and then share with you a recognition that puts the Business Incubator Center and Grand Junction on the global map of entrepreneurship. I'm Dalita Sassoum Bolik, the CEO of the Business Incubator Center. Thank you for having me. So this year, the BIC turns 40, and our theme has been ever since we started rooting. We want to talk about how we are able to help through this vision that the Grand Junction, City of Grand Junction and the people of Grand Junction set in place 40 years ago to help businesses root in our community and transform this amazing place that we all call home. I want to acknowledge that the Business Incubator Center would not have existed without the business without the City of Grand Junction support. As a matter of fact, since our founding in 1986, the City of Grand Junction was with us as a founding board member, and we're very proud of this partnership. Another quick note on the history. So how do we do it? The BIC operates through these five pillars that you see here. That's how we deliver our programs and mission on a day-to-day basis. First, with business development, that's where basically our SVDC and business development team sit, as well as our Camino al Exito Spanish language entrepreneurial support program. This is where the coaching and mentorship and the training happens for all the entrepreneurs. Second, our space and tools, which is the facility itself, the spaces at incentivized opportunities for entrepreneurs to start and launch and help operate their businesses from specialized tools. Getting the important capital in entrepreneurs' hands so that they can continue investing in hiring people and building facilities and making sure that their businesses can grow. Sometimes these are gaps in the regional economy, and sometimes these are areas that we strategically approach in order to make sure that we can see acceleration for business activity. And these efforts can focus on sectors and sometimes regional areas or specialized attention. And we do this work together with public partners, stakeholders, federal and local government partners, because the BIC's mission is to strengthen the key economic pillars in our communities in order to see that diversification happen. So currently three initiatives at the BIC, and the first one focusing on sustainability with Agro West and the future of AG in our communities. The second one, Camino Alexito, which means path to success in Spanish, which delivers our resources to Spanish speaking founders. And then the third one is Circular Economy Development Center, which is a partnership with CDPHE in order to support markets and systems to reduce waste and to create new economic value for small businesses. This is something I'm very, very proud of to show you here. Our partnership creates amazing impact for our community.