EXECUTIVE UPDATE / November 14, 2006

EDC has announced 1,372 new jobs, year to date, with several announcements pending. EDC has received 76 new prospect inquiries since January 1 and hosted 31 visits by companies considering Colorado Springs for expansion or relocation operations. This is a significant increase in activity compared to ‘05. Please join us in honoring eleven new and expanded companies at an EDC hosted luncheon on December 5 at The Cheyenne Mountain Resort. Reservations may be made at www.coloradosprings.org by clicking on "Upcoming Events".
Marketing Update: EDC’s Vice President of Marketing, Dave White, led a team visit to Dallas to call on eleven site selection consultants and two companies. A team visit was also made to the Storage Networking World Conference in Orlando. Members of the team included data storage experts, Richard and Ellen Lary, and Rick Bauer who heads the locally-based Storage Networking Industry Association’s Tech Lab. Colorado Springs is already home to such data storage giants as Hewlett Packard, Quantum, EMC2, Seagate and Oracle. EDC investors are invited to participate in 2007 marketing activities that will include trips to California, Boston, New York, Atlanta, Dallas and Chicago. The Storage Networking World Conference in San Diego, Bio 2007 in Boston, the Medical Device and Manufacturing Show in Anaheim, and the RSA Security Show in San Francisco are also on the schedule. Please contact Dave White (719) 475-6426 if you are interested. in being involved.
EDC thanks the voters, the Citizens for Effective Government Committee, and the community leadership for their opposition to City Initiatives 200 and 201. This was an important election and the outcome will enable our community to move forward as we work to retain our quality of life and address the future business needs of our community.
Eleven local companies and organizations were honored at the Excellence in Local Industry Awards Reception hosted by EDC at The Broadmoor on November 2nd. A keynote address was delivered by Brian Vogt, Executive Director of the Colorado Office of Economic Development and International Trade, who was also presented with an award for his leadership on legislative issues positively impacting economic development. Mayor Rivera and Sallie Clark, Chair of the Board of El Paso County Commissioners, presented awards to the Colorado Springs Fine Arts Center, HemoGenix, Inc., Intel, Intelligent Software Solutions, Inc., Pyxant Labs, RT Logic, The Rapid Response Team, Sinton Dairy, The Space Foundation, T.Rowe Price and the University of Colorado at Colorado Springs. The event was sponsored by The Broadmoor, Agilent Technologies, Barclays, The Colorado Springs Business Journal, Intel, El Paso County, The Gazette, Navsys Corporation, Provident Pharmaceutical, Progressive, Sandia, T.Rowe Price and USAA. More information on the award recipients is available at www.coloradosprings.org/downloads/Awards.pdf.
United Airlines will continue to operate out of the Colorado Springs Airport, according to Aviation Director Mark Earle. A recent media report mentioned that United Airlines would be outsourcing its Colorado Springs ticket counter and ground handling operations. The story focused on the last day for the UA employees and accurately reported the transfer of responsibility for ticketing and ground handling to Skywest Airlines. Unfortunately, the story also gave the impression that United was pulling out of the Colorado Springs market but this is not the case. United will continue to operate in Colorado Springs and the level of service will remain virtually the same as before.
A community update on the Colorado Springs Utilities (CSU) was recently provided by Jerry Forte, Chief Executive Officer of CSU. Jerry Forte highlighted the results of a recent survey which ranks Colorado Springs Utilities rates as the 3rd lowest among the Western cities for commercial and residential rates. He also identified some of CSU’s challenges ahead, such as aging infrastructure; upgrades to accommodate new pollution regulations and increasing power generation costs which are projected to be over 40% in the next regulations. $1.6 billion will be needed for capital projects by 2012 and more than half (53%) of this investment is needed to rehabilitate our existing infrastructure for energy and water. While there are major challenges ahead he believes CSU is well-positioned to meet consumer and community utility needs at an affordable cost and in an environmentally-responsible manner for many years to come. For the full briefing go to www.coloradosprings.org/downloads/2006_Utilities.pps.
Seventy-six percent of Colorado voters said they consider economic development a “high priority” according to a recent poll commissioned by the Economic Developers Council of Colorado. Additionally, the poll results indicated that voters favor promoting Colorado products and services, want marketing for tourism and local spending for jobs. To view and download the results of the poll go to www.coloradosprings.org/downloads/EDCC_Oct2006.pps.
The Colorado Nanotechnology Roadmap, a creation of the Colorado Nanotechnology Alliance, has, as its goal, the establishment of Colorado as one of the top ten states for nanotechnology-based economic development. Currently, 75 Colorado companies are engaged in nanotech. The global nanotech market is estimated to grow to $1 trillion by 2015. Nanotechnology has proven applications in nearly every industry, including aerospace, defense/homeland security, biomedicine, electronics, and energy. www.coloradonanotechnology.org
Bachelor of Innovation degrees in Business Administration, Computer Science, Electrical Engineering and Game Design and Development are now available at UCCS, further supporting the new “innovative” global work force initiative at the University’s College of Engineering and Applied Science. www.innovation.vast.uccs.edu.
Emerging Leaders, a program of the National Business & Disability Council and created and funded by Booz Allen Hamilton, is seeking corporate partners to hire interns with proven track records of scholastic achievement. More information is available at www.emerging-leaders.com.
3,000 volunteers will be needed for the 2008 U.S. Senior Open to be held at The Broadmoor. For more information on this unique opportunity to volunteer, contact Jeff Yeager at jyeager@broadmoor.com.
The Corporate Preview Night of the musical, 1940’s Radio Hour, will be held at the Colorado Springs Fine Arts Center on Thursday, November 16, at 8:00 p.m. Contact Amanda Jeter for tickets, ajeter@csfineartscenter.org.
For questions or comments regarding the Executive Update, please contact Julie Boswell at jboswell@csedc.org