EXECUTIVE UPDATE / August 23, 2006

EDC has announced 1,062 jobs, year to date with the latest announcement of a New Jersey-based company, Accounts Receivable Management, Inc. (ARM) that plans to bring 100 new jobs to the Colorado Springs community. ARM plans to begin local operations next month at 1125 Kelly Johnson Boulevard. Click here for more details. Announced layoffs, year to date, number 946..
Progressive recently opened a $57 million, 175,000 square foot data center at their campus at the Northgate Business Park. It is estimated 140 employees will eventually be located at the data center which is adjacent to the call center facility. Progressive currently employs 1,259 in Colorado Springs and 131 elsewhere in the state. (Source: EDC/The Gazette.).
EDC’s Business Attraction team is focusing on the following primary target sectors that show the most promise for this region over the next five years. These target sectors include: Homeland Defense; Data Networking and Storage; Biotechnology/Medical Device Manufacturing; Web-based Companies; National Non-profit Corporations; National Sports Governing Bodies and Sports Organizations; Aerospace/Defense; Specialty Metals Manufacturing..
Colorado Springs and Colorado are rising to the top in national rankings. Money Magazine’s 19th annual survey of the Best Places to Live in America ranked Colorado Springs No. 1 in the big city category with a population of 300,000 or more. Rankings were based on affordable housing, education, quality of life, leisure and culture, weather and health. Forbes Magazine announced Colorado as the 5th Best State for Business with Colorado Springs ranking 35th overall. Those rankings were based on labor costs, energy and taxes, educational attainment, net migration and projected population growth. Colorado ranks No.2 for entrepreneurs, according to a study by the Ewing Marion Kaufmann Foundation based in Kansas City. Last year, 530 out of every 100,000 Colorado adults started a business every month, compared to the national average of 290 per month. Colorado was second to Vermont, which boosted an average of 550 per month last year. The study also cited that immigrants are more likely to open their own business, than Native-born American adults. (Source: Colorado Springs Business Journal)
Colorado Springs looks very attractive from a cost standpoint compared with Los Angeles, according to an article on the L.A. business climate in the July 3rd publication of the Los Angeles Business Journal. California is the major focus of EDC’s current business attraction/marketing campaign..
Colorado welcomed a record number of visitors in 2005, according to a recently released Colorado Travel Year 2005 study commissioned by the Colorado Tourism Office. 25.9 million overnight travelers, 22.5 million leisure visitors and 3.4 million business travelers from domestic markets visited the state in 2005. These numbers show a 1% increase in domestic leisure visitors over 2004. Overall, the 2005 figure represents the largest number of tourists to Colorado since 1992..
City transit service will be made available to the north end businesses in 2007. It has been brought to the attention of EDC by local businesses that transit service is not available to business locations north of Research Parkway. Based on this input, EDC, working through EDC Board Member and City Councilman Jerry Heimlicher, has obtained unanimous agreement with City Council to include increased transit service for the north end of Colorado Springs in the budget for 2007. As a first step, the Transit Department is asking the north end businesses to complete the attached survey. Click here for the survey. The survey should be returned to Phil Hagen at phagen@csedc.org, or faxed to (719) 471-9733..
New members of the EDC board of directors, effective October 1, will be: Brian Crook, President, Provident Pharmaceuticals, LLC; Mike Jorgensen, Dealer/General Manager, Red Noland Cadillac, Inc.; Dave Kast, CEO/Partner, Stockman Kast Ryan + Company, LLP; Doug Quimby, COO, La Plata Investments, LLC.. UPCOMING EVENTS
The University of Colorado at Colorado Springs "Reach Your Peak Lecture Series" presents Ken Burns, America's Documentary Filmmaker, August 27, at 7:30 p.m. at the Pikes Peak Center. Tickets are available at www.ticketswest.com or at the Pike Peak Center box office. All proceeds will be donated to the Reach your Peak Scholarship Fund at UCCS.
Experience the Springs, a program offered by Leadership Pikes Peak that provides an introduction into civic engagement in the Pikes Peak Region, is now open to applicants for the September 27/28 program. Contact Lisa Johnson at intern@leadershippikespeak.org.
The “Excellence in Local Industry” awards will be presented at an EDC reception honoring local primary employers on November 2 at The Broadmoor. Invitations will be mailed in October.
For questions or comments regarding the Executive Update, please contact Julie Boswell at jboswell@csedc.org