Colorado: Our Future Economy

John Hickenlooper, Denver Mayor

John Hickenlooper started his long road toward successful entrepreneurism by presenting the concept for Wynkoop Breweries as a 5-minute presentation at one of Rockies Venture Club's monthly meetings. He's come a long way.

As the Mayor of Denver, Hickenlooper has not lost his connection to entrepreneurism, or the health of our community. Important initiatives like Greenprint Denver signal his committment to the future.

At the Angel Capital Summit, Mayor Hickenlooper will bridge his background as an entrepreneur with his vision as a mayor to help inspire the next phase of Colorado's entrepreneurial evolution.

About Mayor John Hickenlooper:

A small businessman who had never previously run for political office, John Hickenlooper was elected Mayor of Denver in 2003 and reelected in 2007. Since taking office, Mayor Hickenlooper passed a citywide charter reform initiative to modernize Denver’s personnel system, overcame a $70 million deficit to balance the City budget while averting major cuts in services and massive layoffs, reached deals with United, Frontier and Southwest Airlines enabling all carriers to grow at Denver International Airport, implemented the most sweeping set of police reforms in Denver’s history, built an unprecedented partnership with Denver Public Schools, launched efforts to create a more business-friendly environment in city government, initiated a citywide campaign to end homelessness, created Denver’s sustainable development initiative, and ushered in a new era of bipartisan regional cooperation culminating in passage of the largest regional transit initiative in the history of the United States.

In November 2005, Mayor Hickenlooper was the only mayor named by Governing Magazine as one of the top Public Officials of the Year, and in April 2005 – less than two years into his first term – TIME Magazine named Mayor Hickenlooper one of the top five “big-city” mayors in America.

Hickenlooper’s passion for Denver began in 1981 when his career as an exploration geologist brought him to Buckhorn Petroleum, where he worked for five years. After the collapse of the oil industry, he found himself with a healthy severance check, no immediate job prospects, and time on his hands. Inspired by a visit to a northern California brewpub, he spent two years developing the Wynkoop Brewing Company, the first brewpub in the Rocky Mountains. The Wynkoop group grew to eventually include seven Denver restaurants and a brewpub in Colorado Springs.

A respected entrepreneur, Hickenlooper was also involved with numerous downtown Denver renovation and development projects and is credited as one of the pioneers that helped revitalize Denver’s Lower Downtown historic district. In recognition of his efforts supporting preservation in Denver and downtowns across the country, Hickenlooper received a National Preservation Award from the National Trust for Historic Preservation in 1997.