Filling a role formerly held by the same person for more than 30 years is no easy task – especially when that person is Lew Wymisner. But Jacob Castillo feels he's up to the task.

In November, the Larimer County Workforce Center hired the Fort Collins entrepreneur as its new economic development manager, Workforce Investment Board liaison and enterprise zone administrator – replacing Wymisner's position with the county. The former vice president of the Northern Colorado Economic Development Corp. and Panda Bicycles founder originally left economic development to pursue an MBA at CSU, and is looking forward to getting back into a field he feels passionate about.

He shared with the Business Report his plans for the future of the LCWC, and what that means for his nationally-recognized bamboo bikes.



Question: Economic development manager, Workforce Investment Board liaison and enterprise zone administrator are fairly broad and arguably ambiguous titles. How would you define your role with the LCWC and what will that look like practically?



Answer: I have three primary functions. The first is the economic development manager. On this role I work with the board of