EXECUTIVE UPDATE / November 10, 2005

EDC HAS EXCEEDED ITS 2005 GOAL OF 2,200 NEW PRIMARY JOBS WITH 2,460 ANNOUNCED BY THE FOLLOWING COMPANIES: Chef’s Catalog, Xanthus Higher Education Loan Program, Quantum Corporation, SI International, SAIC, RT Logic, Inc., Northrop Grumman Corporation-Mission Systems, CareCore National, SkyWest Airlines, Barclays US Credit Card Operation, and Western Forge Corporation.
Western Forge has announced the company will add 150 new jobs to the Colorado Springs plant in 2006 as they consolidate operations from their Murphy, North Carolina, plant that is scheduled to be closed. This announcement was particularly important for our community as it also retains a significant number of existing Colorado Springs jobs that would have otherwise gone to North Carolina. With the support of the city, county and community partners, EDC recently took on the new mission of managing a business retention and expansion program dedicated to assisting our local primary employers and helping them to succeed and expand in Colorado Springs. The retention and expansion of Western Forge is a direct result of the collaborative efforts of this program.
Enterprise Zone Tax Credits are available to those who invest in EDC to support the community’s privately funded job attraction and expansion program. The net cost of a $10,000 investment is $4,480 after tax credits. The deadline for qualifying for 2005 Enterprise Zone Tax Credits is December 31. Please call Julie Boswell (719) 475-6414 for more information.
Referendum C passed due in large part to the largest bi-partisan coalition of supporters in the state's history. A special thanks goes to the local Citizen's Coalition in Support of Referenda C and D, which was recognized by the state for their leadership and efforts, and to Mayor Rivera and the city council who endorsed the referenda. The passing of Referendum C means that the state will be able to avoid significant cuts in education and health care. However, Referendum C doesn't actually put much "new money" on the table. Of the excess revenues that will be retained for the next 5 years, most of the money is already committed. Only about $120 million per year is "new" money that the legislature will have discretion to spend in ways other than plugging holes and restoring cuts in education and health care as detailed in the referendum. Some of this new money will likely be directed toward the outstanding liabilities of the Police & Fire pensions where, due to prior litigation, the state is obligated to appropriate at least $20 million per year.
El Paso County gained 3,194 jobs during 2004, a 1.4 percent increase, according to a report published by the Southern Colorado Economic Forum. This was the first time in four years that job gains were reported in El Paso County The largest employment gains were professional and technical services (985 jobs), administrative and waste services (668 jobs), retail trade (557 jobs), local government (528 jobs) and construction (420) jobs. Significant job losses continued in manufacturing (604) and information processing (531) during ’04. More Forum data is available at 2005 Forum (http://web.uccs.edu/scef/).
Colorado Technical University recently became the first institution ever to be recognized by the Information Systems Security Association (ISSA) as a Center of Excellence for information security education.
Colorado Springs was named by the magazine Fast Company as one of the ten Fastest Cities in America. The magazine picked the ten U.S. cities “that are showing the highest rates of growth among the creative class (scientists, engineers, artists, cultural creatives, managers and professionals who together comprise more than 30 percent of the U.S. economy). The other nine cities are San Diego; San Antonio; Salt Lake City; Madison, Wisconsin; Portland, Oregon; Raleigh/Durham, N.C.; Phoenix and Tucson, Arizona. Sacramento Business Journal (www.bizjournals.com/sacramento/stories/2005/10/17/daily38.html?from_rss=1)
Intelligent Software Solutions, a Colorado Springs based software firm that serves primarily government customers, was recently named to the Deloitte Technology Fast 500, and ranked at 129 nationally. This comes shortly after the company was ranked third in the state on the Deloitte & Touche state technology list and 62nd fastest growing company in the nation by Inc. magazine. Jay Jesse, President, is a native of Colorado Springs.
Colorado leads the nation in the number of tech workers per capita and funding from the National Science Foundation. The state ranks highly in other key indicators according to a Cyberstates 2005 report, a survey of technology-related economic data recently released. Denver Business Journal (denver.bizjournals.com/denver/stories/2005/10/17/daily37.html)
Dennis Donovan, a leading national and international corporate site location consultant, will address the latest corporate location trends and give an outsider’s view of Colorado Springs competitiveness at the EDC November 17 luncheon to be held at The Broadmoor, Main Ballroom. Call (719) 475-6462 for reservations.
EDC’s annual reception for new and expanded companies, sponsored by ERA Shields Real Estate, Holland & Hart, Lennar, Pikes Peak United Way, and Wells Fargo, will be held Tuesday, December 13,5:00 to 7:00 p.m. at The Broadmoor, Lake Terrace Dining Room. Fifteen companies are slated to be recognized.
For questions or comments regarding the Executive Update, please contact Julie Boswell at jboswell@csedc.org