The Aspen Chamber Resort Association hosted the annual “state of the community” breakfast yesterday with updates and insights from city leaders.
Presentations included a vision of the future of Aspen roving with driverless vehicles, with increased year-round direct flights to major US cities, a state of the art city government building, and a five million dollar budget for energy efficiency programs.
Assistant city manager Randy Ready says Aspen has positioned itself as a testing ground for the IT companies developing the next wave of “smart” technology.
“We’ve got the welcome mat out to Apple and Google as soon as they want to get one of their autonomous vehicles here we welcome that so - stay clear,” said Ready.
Other new programs introduced are a “Citizens Academy” set to begin this fall that allows the public to take classes with city leaders and learn more about local government, and a shoulder-season campaign by ACRA - encouraging tourism during the spring and fall seasons.