The Niwot Future League
An informal group of community volunteers focused on Niwot's economic future — and the group that voted to investigate incorporation in June 2025.
Origins
The Niwot Future League traces its origins to the Local Improvement District (LID). At one point, the LID had funded a position to do economic development work for Niwot. The Niwot Future League was created as an informal group of volunteers who would oversee this economic developer and help guide strategy for Niwot's commercial future.
Over time, the group evolved into a broader forum where community leaders — business owners, neighborhood representatives, and civic-minded residents — discussed Niwot's direction. It was not a formal organization with bylaws or elected officers. It was a table where people who cared about Niwot's future sat down and talked.
Members
- Tony Santelli
- Bruce "Biff" Warren
- Alex Chlebek
- Cornelia Sawle
- Carrie Wise
- Mary Coonce
- Anne Postle
- Jim Ditzel — acting NBA president at the time
- Chuck Klueber
- Jim Dorvey — president of Niwot Hall
The June 2025 Meeting
In June 2025, the NBA president invited Nicholas Little to attend a Niwot Future League meeting as a guest. Nicholas was co-leading the Boulder County Farms and Jobs Alliance minimum wage task force, and he came to give the group an update on that effort.
During the discussion, a key insight surfaced: if Niwot incorporated, the town would have the authority to set its own minimum wage. This was not just a theoretical point — it meant that if the commissioners would not adjust their policy, incorporation presented a viable alternative for protecting local businesses.
The Niwot Future League took an informal vote and agreed: someone should dust off the paperwork and investigate what incorporation would actually involve. Since Nicholas was already deeply involved in the minimum wage fight and understood the governance issues at stake, he volunteered to lead the investigation.
That moment — a show of hands around a table — was the beginning of the current incorporation effort. Not a grand launch or a formal resolution, but a group of people who had been watching Niwot's problems accumulate for years deciding it was time to look at a real solution.
After the Vote
The Niwot Future League itself continues to meet informally. Its role in the incorporation story is specific but pivotal: it was the place where the question changed from "what do we do about the minimum wage?" to "what do we do about the fact that Niwot can't make its own decisions?"