Interaction, connections are key for CSU Regional Engagement Center

    Karen Ramey-Torres seems to ask “What if?” a lot.
    “What if we could get someone with a head for business to help artists run their studios? What if we could bring people together to talk about busing alternatives for our kids? What if we could use the production of fresh food locally to provide job skills for former (prison) inmates?”
    What if there was a place where the “what ifs” could be turned into “why nots?”
    There is, and Ramey-Torres runs it. It’s call the Colorado State University Regional Engagement Center, and the the purpose is, well, engagement. As in, getting people engaged in pursuits to their mutual benefit.
    “It’s about bringing people together from different perspectives, engaging them in conversations about things where they have a mutual interest,” Ramey-Torres said. “I go to a lot of meetings, and those meetings help me learn about interests that people have in common that they may not know they have in common.”
    Ramey-Torres is the director of the regional center, and the first thing one needs to know is that the region is seven counties in northeast Colorado — Kit Carson, Logan, Morgan, Phillips, Sedgwick and Yuma. Ramey-Torres said her job is to engage people in all seven counties for their mutual benefit.

The full article is available in our e-Edition. Click here to subscribe.