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Invest in Colorado
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Over 80% of Colorado’s inhabitants live in the region known as the Front Range Corridor, which compares well in terms of size, economy, tourist attractions, and population to the Rhone-Alpes region. For the Rhone-Alpes investor, Colorado offers comparatively low taxes and business costs, a fair regulatory climate, exceptional science and technology assets, strategic location, access to excellent rail, road and air transport, and an unparalleled quality of life, important to attracting qualified personnel.
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Colorado Facts:
Population: 4,753,377
Land Area: 104,718 sq.mi.
Population Denver: 566,974
Population Metro Aera: 2.6 million
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Renewable Energy
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Colorado ranks high among U.S. states in renewable energy potential, primarily in solar, wind, and biofuels. This has made the state extremely attractive to U.S. and foreign investors. Danish company VESTAS, will soon have completed four production facilities for wind turbines which will employ over 3,000 workers. Siemens is establishing its U.S. wind turbine R&D center in Colorado. Conoco Phillips is constructing its Global Biofuels Technology and Corporate Learning Center near Denver. SunEdison, the country’s largest solar energy services provider, has constructed a utility scale photovoltaic plant which is the largest in the U.S. Xcel Energy recently announced plans to build the world’s largest solar plant in Colorado.
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IT & Software Industry
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Number Employed: 55,000
Major Companies: IBM, Agilent Technologies, Hewlett Packard, Sun Microsystems, EDS, First Data Corp, PeopleSoft, Ciber Inc.
Colorado is a major center in the U.S. for software development. With the No. 3 tech labor market, Metro Denver is an IT recruiter's dream. Software accounts for over 50% of Colorado exports. In addition to the more than 55,000 employees who work in software companies, there are more than 100,000 additional IT workers in other industries across the state, including renewable energy, aerospace, financial services, consumer services, retail, and more.
With an enviable lifestyle and boundless recreation opportunities, it's no surprise that Metro Denver and Northern Colorado attract and retain the most talented IT workers. Colorado has the third-highest concentration of high-tech workers in the country according to the Cyberstates 2010 report by TechAmerica.
Software companies employ 2.8 percent of the region's total employment base compared to 1.5 percent nationally. A strong entrepreneurial atmosphere is evident with the state ranking fourth in creating new companies and second for money raised via the Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) program.
A long list of communities around the country have tried to become “the next Silicon Valley.” But very few have the mix of money, universities, a high-tech talent pool and appealing lifestyle needed to hatch tech start-ups. Boulder, however, has been luring tech industry veterans and young entrepreneurs from Silicon Valley and Manhattan with promises of a tech community that allows for lunch-break hikes in the foothills of the Rocky Mountains.
Venture capital dollars are following the entrepreneurs to Colorado. From 2007 to 2009, venture capitalists invested $1.9 billion in 275 Colorado start-ups. The money is coming from Colorado venture firms — including the Foundry Group, a prominent firm in Boulder — as well as from Silicon Valley and New York. Jean-Francois “Jeff” Clavier is the Founder and Managing Partner of SoftTech VC, one of the most active seed stage investors in Web 2.0 startups. Since 2004, Jeff has invested in more than 80 internet companies. These investments are typically located in Silicon Valley, New-York and Boulder.
But there's more to our region than just great talent. Consider our highly favorable tax and regulatory environment as well as low business costs. You'll have many "real" opportunities when you locate your IT business here.
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Bioscience
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Number Employed: 17,681
Major Companies: Amgen Inc, Thermo Biostar Inc, Sirna Therapeutics Inc, Atrix Laboratories Inc, Dharmacon Research Inc, GeneThera Inc, FeRx Inc, Microphage, Roche-Colorado
In bioscience, university-based research organizations rank at the top in their fields in the U.S. For example, Colorado State University has an international center for research in human and animal infectious diseases. The University of Colorado is one of the top ten recipients in the U.S. in bioscience research funding, and is developing a $4.2 billion Health Science City which will be the second largest such campus in the country when completed. Nationally, Denver ranks at or near the top in research and treatment of respiratory and pediatric illnesses.
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Micro & Nanotechnology
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Major Companies: Metafluidics, NanoProducts Corp., ZettaCore Inc
Anchored by the presence of NREL and NIST, Colorado ranks third in the U.S. in nanotechnology research. Universities and private sector research and development activities benefit from NREL’s Incubator Alliance and access to state-of-the-art nanofabrication facitlities and nanomeasurement tools.
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Research & Development
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With Colorado’s strengths in research and development, there are significant opportunities for collaborative research in every sector with universities and Colorado-based national research laboratories.
Colorado is the top state recipient of federal research funds. National research organizations based in Colorado include the National Renewable Energy Laboratory
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(NREL), the National Institute for Standards and Technology (NIST), the National Center for Atmospheric Research (NCAR)and one of two National Centers for Disease Control.
In Colorado, the economic development of these sectors is promoted by membership-based organizations, including six major regional chambers of commerce and several industry associations. CSIA, Colorado’s Technology Association, serves the IT/software industry, has 300 members and presents a comprehensive series of periodic programs and major conferences. The Colorado Nanotechnology Alliance serves organizations involved in research and commercialization of nanotechnologies. CORE, Connected Organizations for a Responsible Economy, serves companies ranging from start-ups to multinationals in promoting sustainability.
The Colorado Renewable Energy Collaboratory is a research partnership among the NREL, Colorado State University, the University of Colorado, and the Colorado School of Mines. Together, they comprise the world’s most powerful renewable energy consortium of its kind. The Collaboratory unites world class researchers with industry partners. Shared research projects are selected by industry members from proposals offered by all four Collaboratory institutions. Research centers include the Colorado Center for Biorefining and Biofuels, the Center for Revolutionary Solar Photoconversion, and the Center for Research and Education in Wind.
Anchored by NREL, clusters exist for solar energy, wind power, smart grid and grid development, fuel cells and biofuels.
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Other Major Industries
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Aerospace / Satellite
Number Employed: 40,000
Major Companies: Ball Aerospace, Boeing, EchoStar, Hughes Space & Communications, Lockheed Martin, Raytheon/TRW, DigitalGlobe, Space Imaging, Boulder Imaging, Merrick & Company
Agriculture & Food
Number Employed: 39,969
Major Companies: Molson Coors, Leprino Foods, Whitewave Foods, Swift Co., Cargill, Longmont Foods
Energy / Mining / Natural Resources
Number Employed: 14,900
Major Companies: RAG American Coal Company, Cotter Corporation, Newmont Mining, Forest Oil Co., Tom Brown Inc; Transmontaigne Inc, Bowie Resources, Climax Molybdenum, Titanium Metals, Anglo Gold North America, Gold Fields Exploration, The Denver Gold Club, Behre Dolbear; Knight Piesold, Orica US
Manufacturing
Number Employed: 166,495
Major Companies: CoorsTek, Atmel Corp., Ball Corp, Geneva Pharmaceuticals, Hunter Douglas, Ingersoll-Rand
Photonics
Number Employed: 5,000
Major Companies: Ball Corporation, Agilent Technologies, Research Electro-Optics, Colorlink Inc., Meadowlark Optics, ILX Lightwave, Rocky Mountain Instrument Co.
Telecommunications & Digital Media
Number Employed: 49,446
Major Companies: Qwest Communications, EchoStar Communications, AT&T Corp., Avaya Communications, Time Warner Telecom, Level 3 Communications, Adelphia
Transportation
Number Employed: 61,834
Major Companies: United Airlines, Frontier Airlines, RTD, Union Pacific/Southern Pacific Railroad, FedEx, UPS
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