On June 19, 1891, Lucien L. Nunn threw a switch to put the Ames Hydroelectric Generating Plant online to power his Gold King Mine, marking the world’s first commercial transmission of hightension, AC current for industrial use over a long distance. The momentous event, a historic collaboration between Nunn, George Westinghouse and former Edison engineer Nikola Tesla, surged with the hopefulness of thousands of unwritten possibilities and Telluride became the first town in the country to have electric street lights.

He set the tone and the agenda and put the Telluride region on the map: Big things from small packages.

Since its inception 18 years ago, the Telluride Foundation has given away $50 million. About 20 percent of those funds or $10 million has gone to provide regional safety nets: a food bank; a domestic violence service; tutoring low income children; and family resource centers. The remaining 80 percent of Foundation funds, however, have targeted strategic change.

So yes, Telluride remains a first-class ski resort – according to Travel & Leisure, “America’s coolest ski resort” (and summer festival town) – but Telluride Foundation initiatives around broadband, food and business start-ups have the potential to be gamechangers. Those ventures should improve local life through the products and services offered; enhanced and easier access to same; and revenue opportunities from job creation and spending by new residents and guests in the local economy.

Read more about the Telluride Foundation’s innovative initiatives with broadband, food & business start-ups below in Truly Telluride Magazine.

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