The retired president of Colorado Mesa University and a geographic data company were honored for their contributions to economic development as well as their community involvement.

Tim Foster received the Joseph Prinster Leadership Award. Kaart received the Charter Communication Spirit of Economic Development Award. The Grand Junction Economic Partnership presented the annual awards as part of the Western Colorado Economic Summit.

Mike Sneddon, chairman of the GJEP board of directors, praised Foster for his leadership in expanding CMU, which in turn benefitted Mesa County and Western Colorado. “No living person has done more for this community than Tim Foster.” 

During Foster’s 17-year tenure, student enrollment, the number of certificates and degrees awarded and square footage of academic space on the Grand Junction campus all doubled.

The economic effects of CMU similarly have grown over the years, totaling during the 2019 and 2020 fiscal year an estimated $539 million in a 14-county region of Western Colorado.

Kaart was launched in 2006 to provide Global Positioning System mapping services to developing countries. The company now provides geographic data along with consulting, editing, engineering, landscape architecture and surveying services. Kaart recently moved into a four-story building constructed on Main Street in downtown Grand Junction to house a work force that’s grown to more than 150.