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Colorado loves California, again!
Colorado first declared its love for California in February 2009 with an 80-foot Valentine banner flying over Los Angeles freeways. This year, in an even bolder expression of love, Colorado Governor Bill Ritter
officially proclaimed February 12 Colorado Loves California Day.
"We believe this is the first time a Governor has officially declared love for another state," says Tom Clark, executive vice president of the Metro Denver Economic Development Corporation, which launched the campaign. "We've had great success with this light-hearted campaign in terms of media interest and company inquiries."
The signs of love were everywhere Valentine's weekend. Colorado sent
custom valentines and chocolates to Fortune 500 and cleantech executives, placed a themed ad
in the L.A. Times, and ran drive time "love dedications" on KBIG-FM and
KLAC-AM Sports. Plus, a small army of Colorado Cupids
handed out candy and love on the Streets of L.A., but in true Hollywood style, they had to audition first (see the YouTube video).
Expansions by California companies into Metro Denver over the past year include the corporate headquarters relocation of DaVita, and expansions by Charles Schwab, SolarCity, SunRun, and Intuit. Most recently, SPG Solar announced it will locate a regional office in Metro Denver.
The San Francisco Bay area company is a proven leader in designing and installing high-performance solar photovoltaic systems. According to Matt Wassam of SPG Solar, the company wanted to expand further into the eastern United States and considered "numerous" locations in the Rocky Mountain West and Texas.
 "I really liked the campaign's aggressive approach and I 'loved' how the message got to the 'heart' of the matter," commented Kathy Mussio, managing partner of the site selection and incentive consulting firm Atlas Insight.
Preliminary media results for the campaign tally over 60 news placements reaching an estimated 32 million people.
Read more:
»
COloveCA.com
»
Colorado sends its love to California firms
San Francisco Chronicle
»
Colorado courts California partnership
Denver Post
»
Colorado loves California all over again
Denver Business Journal
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Raytheon wins $887 million GPS contract, will add 300 jobs
Program will improve security, accuracy, and reliability of GPS satellites
Raytheon Company, based in Aurora, announced it has received a
$887 million contract from the United States Air Force to develop a new element of the Global Positioning System to improve the accuracy of information from GPS satellites.
Raytheon officials confirmed on February 25 that the company will add 300 high-paying jobs--100 new employees this year at its 2,200-employee Aurora campus--where work focuses primarily on software development, and another 200 workers added in 2011. In addition, Boeing Co.--a partner with Raytheon on the contract--could also add 50 to 60 new jobs.
"This is a big deal for this campus, a big deal for this company, and a very big deal for Colorado," said Bob Canty, Raytheon's vice president and program manager of the GPS Advanced Control Segment in a statement to the Denver Post.
The contract represents the first two development blocks of the advanced control segment (OCX), which will have a significant impact on GPS capabilities. The OCX system will include anti-jam capabilities and improved security, accuracy and reliability, and will be based on a modern service-oriented architecture to integrate government and industry open-system standards.
Metro Denver ranks first among the 50 largest metros for total private aerospace workers with 19,870 people employed at aerospace companies. Colorado is a
national powerhouse for the aerospace industry, with eight prime contractors, four space-related military bases, and cutting-edge university research programs such as CU-Boulder's Laboratory for Atmospheric and Space Physics.
Read more:
» Aerospace industry on metrodenver.org |
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On the road again to promote Colorado's industries
Look for Colorado economic development groups at worldwide trade shows in 2010
 The Metro Denver EDC recently released its
2010 Industry Cluster Study, an analysis of the industries leading job growth and innovation in the region.
"Our strategy over time has been to grow Metro Denver's economy through industry cluster development," explains Tom Clark, executive vice president of the Metro Denver EDC. "We are now seeing the success of these efforts--Colorado uniquely owns an 'innovation' niche in the economy that no other state can claim."
The Metro Denver EDC and its economic development partners from the Colorado Office of Economic Development and International Trade (OEDIT) and various county and city development groups will literally travel the globe in 2010 to promote Colorado.
26th National Space Symposium (NSS) - Colorado Springs, CO - April 12-15, 2010. The NSS brings together space leaders from around the world to discuss, address, and dream about the future of space. The Colorado Space Coalition and statewide economic development organizations will exhibit.
2010 BIO International Convention - Chicago, IL - May 3-6, 2010. The BIO International Convention is the largest global event for the biotechnology industry and attracts the biggest names in biotech. The Metro Denver EDC will partner with the Colorado BioScience Association--with support from the state of Colorado-- to promote the region's burgeoning bioscience industry.
WindPower 2010 Conference & Exhibition - Dallas, TX - May 23-26, 2010. WindPower is the largest annual wind conference and exhibition in the world, last year featuring over 23,000 attendees and 1,280 exhibitors. The Colorado OEDIT and the Metro Denver EDC, along with organizations throughout the state, will have a major presence.
Intersolar Europe 2010 - Munich, Germany - June 9-11, 2010. The world's leading solar trade fair brings together decision makers from industry, trade, and commerce with solar industry manufacturers, suppliers, institutes, and associations. Colorado economic developers will attend as part of a trade mission to Germany and Denmark in early June.
16th World Route Development Forum
- Vancouver, Canada - September 19-21, 2010. The annual Routes Conference is often referred to as "speed dating" for the world's airlines and airports to explore new flight development. Denver International Airport (DIA) will host a corporate chalet for face-to-face meetings; the Metro Denver EDC will attend and support efforts to bring new nonstop international flights to the region.
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