Amy Guttmann Joins Metro Denver EDC as Director of Marketing & Brand Strategy

March 21, 2019

The Metro Denver Economic Development Corporation (EDC) recently named Amy Guttmann as the organization’s first director of marketing and brand strategy. The Metro Denver EDC, an affiliate of the Denver Metro Chamber of Commerce, is a nonprofit and private economic development group focused on harnessing the region’s collective business expertise to drive growth, attract and retain companies, and cultivate a thriving workforce.

With more than 15 years of experience, Guttmann comes to the Metro Denver EDC from the Denver-based marketing and communications firm, SE2, where she was instrumental in developing the agency’s marketing function. SE2, an integrated agency that specializes in public and social issues, serves a distinguished list of nonprofits, government organizations, advocacy groups and corporate clients. For over a decade, Guttmann led the agency’s creative work. From large-scale advertising and behavior change campaigns, to brand strategy and execution, to audience engagement efforts and, most recently, a global diversity and inclusion initiative, she worked directly with clients to help them reach their audiences in a way that was effective and impactful.

The move signals a new and exciting time at the Metro Denver EDC, as Guttmann will work to evolve the brand for the Metro Denver region and then sell that brand here at home, across the U.S. and beyond. With input from a host of stakeholders, the new regional brand will provide a more comprehensive message and marketing platform from which to promote Metro Denver.

“We are thrilled to welcome Amy to the team at the Metro Denver EDC,” said CEO J. J. Ament. “While it’s obvious that our region boasts an incredible quality of life and over 300 days of sunshine each year, we are so much more from a business and talent perspective. Amy will help us tell that expanded story both domestically and internationally so that, in the long run, the EDC can help ensure that our citizens have great jobs and our economy can withstand any future disruptions.”

With the best economy in the country, Metro Denver certainly does have a broader story to tell. Our dominant aerospace industry and the innovative work happening in healthcare and bioscience are just a couple of reasons why the region is the envy of communities around the country. In 2018 alone, the Metro Denver EDC was instrumental in bringing 24 new companies to Colorado, resulting in over 7,000 primary jobs and nearly $400 million in capital investment across business sectors. In the year ahead, the Metro Denver EDC – with support from its investors and regional partners – will continue its core work in the economic development space, while also developing strategies that ensure our economy, and the prosperity that comes with it, is one that benefits the entire region.

“Amy’s experience in strategic communications, creative campaign development and marketing initiatives that educate and inspire a broad range of audiences will be a tremendous asset to the EDC,”

Ament said. “As we look to further promote work and life in Metro Denver, her expertise will help us to craft those stories in a way that is both meaningful and engaging.”

In 2017, Guttmann was selected to participate in the Denver Metro Chamber Leadership Foundation’s Leadership Denver program – an experience that introduced her to the Metro Denver EDC and gave her broader insights into the issues facing the Metro Denver region, as well as the companies and individuals working to address those issues.

“I clearly remember one presentation on the region’s efforts around economic development. I learned for the first time that there was a team that has the privilege of shaping the image of Metro Denver and selling our community to businesses, governments and investors across the country and around the world,” Guttmann said. “Fast forward two years and here I am, both honored and excited to have joined that very team.”

Outside of work, Guttmann plays a lead role in the advertising industry as the immediate past president of Ad Club Colorado – a nonprofit, membership organization that serves the advertising and marketing companies and freelancers working in our state. Since its inception in 1891, Ad Club Colorado has focused on elevating the marketing work that is happening here while helping member agencies navigate and adapt to the rapid changes in tech and communications.

She is married, the mother of two young children and grew up on the Western Slope in Grand Junction.

About the Metro Denver EDC:

The Metro Denver Economic Development Corporation (Metro Denver EDC) is the nation’s first regional economic development entity. Privately funded and governed by 300 of Colorado’s most engaged companies, the Metro Denver EDC works collaboratively with the public and private sector to represent, and further, the interests of the entire region. Our partners include 70 cities, counties, and economic development organizations in the nine-county Metro Denver and Northern Colorado region. Metro Denver EDC serves as a leader in economic development and seeks to promote a cohesive brand that encourages job creation and capital investment in the areas we serve.

Learn more at metrodenver.org.