Our Programs
Business Growth Program
The North Fork Valley Business Growth Program helps entrepreneurs, artists, farmers, makers, and small business owners build stronger, more sustainable businesses through education, connection, and community. By providing practical learning opportunities, peer support, and access to regional resources, the program empowers local businesses to grow while strengthening the creative and rural economy of the North Fork Valley.
Throughout the year, the program offers workshops, networking events, and the six-month Business Growth Collective, serving more than 180 entrepreneurs annually. Many of these programs are offered in collaboration with valued partners, including the North Fork Valley Chamber of Commerce, Valley Organic Growers Association, Region 10, helping connect local businesses with expertise, resources, and opportunities that support long-term success.
Tourism
Tourism is an important sector of our local economy and our downtown businesses, wineries, and farms benefit from visitors coming to enjoy their bounty. As part of our economic development efforts, we have taken on representation of our Valley through a destination marketing campaign, Visit North Fork Valley, Colorado.
This is a high-targeted campaign designed to reach folks desiring to learn more about our way of life and that are interested in the unique offerings of the North Fork.
To this end, we launched visitnorthforkvalley.com, a warm and inviting new site built to help travelers in navigating the many experiences to be had here. Orchards heavy with fruit, wine that tastes like the land it came from, art around every corner, and mountains that take your breath away.
We are proud to unite the many unique things to do under one voice and easy to use website -- from savory to sweet, from feasts for your eyes to feasts for your bellies—it’s all here.
Paonia Creative District
The Paonia Creative District is a Colorado Certified Creative District that celebrates and strengthens the arts, culture, and creative industries in Paonia and the surrounding North Fork Valley. Managed by the North Fork Valley Creative Coalition, the district is home to galleries, studios, performance venues, restaurants, shops, and locally owned businesses, and serves as a gathering place for many of the community's signature events, including Final Friday Art Walks, Mountain Harvest Festival, Light the Night, and the Paonia Holiday Art Fair.
Beyond supporting creativity locally, the Paonia Creative District is connected to a statewide network of creative communities. We work closely with Colorado Creative Industries, the Western Slope Creative District Network, and fellow Creative Districts across the region to share resources, strengthen rural creative economies, advocate for the arts, and create new opportunities for artists, makers, and creative businesses to thrive.
Paonia Clayworks
Paonia Clayworks is a community pottery collective at the heart of Paonia's creative scene. They offer fully equipped studio space for members, ceramic classes and workshops open to everyone, and a showroom where you can take home something handmade right here in the valley.
Their workshop calendar stays busy year round with classes in throwing, hand building, glazing, and more, making Clayworks one of the most accessible creative resources in the Valley. And if you haven't been to their annual Soup Bowl fundraiser yet, put it on your calendar — local potters hand craft ceramic bowls, you choose one to keep, fill it with bottomless soup, and every dollar goes toward supporting the arts in our community.
Nourish Our Farmers
Nourish Our Farmers is a coalition supporting the mental, physical, and economic well-being of agricultural producers throughout Delta County. Led 13 local organizations and businesses and anchored by the Valley Organic Growers Association, the program fosters connection, reduces isolation, and builds a more resilient farming community.
Through health and wellness resources, a meal program serving prepared food to local farmers and crew members, and monthly Farmers Social gatherings, the coalition meets producers where they are. It also connects farmers to business and economic support, education resources, and a wide network of local, state, and federal programs. At its core, the belief is simple: healthy food systems begin with healthy farmers, and supporting them supports the whole valley.