City leaders head to Boulder, Colo.

The largest group of Lexington leaders to ever participate in a Commerce Lexington leadership visit is heading to Boulder, Colo., Wednesday.

Mayor Jim Newberry, 13 of the 15 members of the Urban County Council, University of Kentucky President Lee Todd and police Chief Anthany Beatty, are among more than 200 community members going on the trip. The two council members who aren't making the trip are Councilwoman K.C. Crosbie and Councilman Ed Lane.

The trip was so popular that all 172 seats on the charter airplane were sold out by Feb. 9. Even after offering a program-only option, there were still 55 people on the waiting list trying to get a program slot.

Commerce Lexington offered the program-only option to include as many people on the trip as possible, but there were limitations on room sizes, the size of the plane and the number of people some of the venues could handle, said Bob Quick, president and CEO of Commerce Lexington.

“This looks to be our best trip we’ve ever done and hopefully next year we can factor in all the lessons learned this year about the demand people had to go on the trip and others,” Quick said.

Boulder was chosen as the site of the 68th annual leadership visit for a number of reasons, including its parks and trails, downtown development, university relationships and how all of that ties into economic development, said Lynda Bebrowsky, Commerce Lexington’s senior vice president of marketing and member services.

“Boulder is certainly well known for its lifestyle and the kinds of amenities they have to keep people there and draw people there,” Bebrowsky said.

I'll be blogging from Boulder for the next three days. Check back here for updates.

- Michelle Ku