2008-05-07 17:52:09 -

www.coors.com - Coors Brewing Company Kimberly DeVigil, 303-277-2909 Kimberly.DeVigil@Coors.com or Denver Metro Chamber of Commerce Kate Horle, 720-201-2522 Kate.Horle@denverchamber.org Fourteen local employers and a group of Denver area chambers of commerce yesterday launched a new initiative to address the challenge of retaining multicultural professionals called Welcome Denver. The new employee retention initiative provides

an opportunity for multicultural mid- to senior-level professionals to connect with professional peers, corporate and community leaders, professional associations, chambers of commerce and arts institutions.

"Through interviews with our diverse employees, we learned that employees who have successfully connected with the community also connect better at work -- resulting in improved retention and engagement at Coors," Kim Huskins, chief people officer for Coors Brewing Company, said. "Retention is important to Colorado businesses. Companies invest considerable resources in finding and retaining the right people, and we don't want to lose them because they can't find a connection to Denver."

Coors hosted the first Welcome Denver event on May 5 at its Denver headquarters. Luke Visconti, co-founder of DiversityInc Media, LLC and publisher of DiversityInc magazine, appeared as the keynote speaker. Former Denver Mayor Wellington Webb spoke on the multicultural history of Denver. Participating chambers included the Denver Metro Chamber of Commerce, the Colorado Black Chamber of Commerce, the Denver Hispanic Chamber of Commerce, the Asian Chamber of Commerce and the Denver Metro Chamber Leadership Foundation.

Professionals participating in the program like Debi Duran appreciated the outreach to ethnically diverse communities.

"It can be difficult to connect and find cultural grounding if you're new to a city; Welcome Denver is a great way to network and find people with similar professional and personal experiences," said Duran, Qwest's director of staffing. "This program will complement our existing multicultural efforts, and help us recruit and retain strong leaders long term."

The first Welcome Denver event included professionals from Brownstein Hyatt Farber Schreck, P.C.; Caliwood Technologies, Capital Investment Council; Centura Health; Coca-Cola; Compass Bank; Coors Brewing Company; Eagle Enterprises, LLC; Faegre & Benson, LLP; First Data Corporation; Holland & Hart; The Integer Group; McElroy, Deutsch, Mulvaney & Carpenter; Prologis; Qwest Communications; Wells Fargo Bank, N.A.

Unique Employment Retention Program Provides Community Connections
for Ethnically Diverse New Hires