MONTROSE – The City of Montrose wants everyone to come to a presentation about the economic health of downtown at the Montrose Pavilion on Feb. 6 at 5:15 p.m.

“We really would like to see the public come out Friday for an opportunity to have their voice heard,” Assistant City Manager Scott Sellers said. “With this economy, it’s a perfect time to reassess how current programs are functioning.”

The economic health of downtown Montrose is vital to the area, Sellers said, and the presentation will reflect data collected Thursday by experts in economic development as well as the community survey conducted last fall and the city’s comprehensive plan.

The data collected Thursday will be a massive effort by economic experts from Downtown Colorado Inc. and the state Department of Local Affairs, he said. They will tour downtown and meet with several focus groups this week.

Four focus groups will meet with the economic experts Thursday between 11:30 a.m. to 8 p.m., Sellers said. The first focus group will be comprised of city staff. Another group will include those interested in downtown but not necessarily located there, such as the hospital, schools and people who live near downtown. A third group will be made up of the city’s economic development partners, including the Montrose Economic Corp., the Montrose Visitors and Convention Bureau, Historic Montrose Downtown, the Montrose Chamber of Commerce, and the Montrose Area Merchants Association. The final focus group will be downtown businesses and property owners.

“We have about 40 RSVPs from businesses and property owners and it should be a great meeting,” Sellers said.

All the information gathered this week will come into focus at the meeting Friday at the Pavilion.

“They will basically spend an all-nighter Thursday night and Friday during the day crafting the results from the focus groups,” he said. “That should give us good recommendations and action steps that will be beneficial to downtown.”

The meeting Friday will be just the first step in planning for the future of downtown Montrose as well as the surrounding area. Near the end of April, the state Office of Economic Development will come in and conduct a community development assessment that will not only look at downtown but the entire region.

“They will take results from the first assessment, the comprehensive plan and the city survey to look at infrastructure needs, tourism and economic development for the region,” Sellers said.

The final step in compiling data for a long-range city economic development plan will come in mid-May when the USDA Rural Development Office will conduct a community forum.

“We will invite citizens from the area to meet and look over the results from the first two assessments and tell us how we can shape the future of economic development for the area,” he said. “That should really give us the right material to craft a final strategic plan for economic development.”

For more information on the city’s economic assessment process, call Sellers at 240-1429.