John Rebchook is a former Rocky Mountain News reporter with more than 30 years of experience in writing and communications... Owners of more than 30 properties in the Denver area have submitted proposals for a public-private partnership with NASA and the nonprofit Colorado Association for Manufacturing and Technology that ultimately could be the jumping off point for 10,000 new jobs and a $7 billion economic impact across the state.The proposed Aerospace and Clean Energy Manufacturing and Innovative Park eventually would be be home to as many as 100 businesses sharing services, equipment and access to NASA and the National Renewable Energy Laboratory and others partners. When completed, it is anticipated to have about 2 million square feet of office, laboratory and manufacturing space spread across about 200 acres. Initial requirements under the request for proposals include:
- An industrial building with at least 100,000 square feet of space (300,000 to 400,000 square feet preferred.)
- A “shovel-ready” site that has freeway access.
- 200 to 400 acres
- It must be a non-polluted “Greenfield” site, as opposed to a “Brownfield” site that is contaminated with pollutants.
Putting Colorado on the map
The facility, although facing funding challenges, could put Colorado on the map in two key industries – aerospace and clean-tech – Tom Clark, executive vice president of the Metro Denver Economic Development Corp. told InsideRealEstateNews on Wednesday.
Clark compared its potential to the Research Triangle in North Carolina, one of the most established and premiere technology hubs in the U.S. He noted that the Research Triangle first started appearing on the radar screen of economic and research and development officials around 1975, but the groundwork had been laid two decades earlier.
“They had started working on it in 1956,” Clark said. Colorado is much better poised and will not have the steep learning curve faced by North Carolina. North Carolina started from scratch with no base in technology, while depending on how you measure it, Colorado is already either No. 2 or No. 3 for concentration of aerospace jobs, Clark said. Colorado trails No. 1 California, and by some metrics, Texas, he said.
“This could certainly lock us in and establish us as a center of innovation in the aerospace industry, a title now held by California,” Clark said. ”And on the second part, the clean energy side, we are already working hard to become the Western center for what they call clean-tech, or clean-energy.”
Here is an example of how the campus might work. A company could brainstorm with NASA with a piece of technology it has, develop a product based on that technology and then take it to market. “Once they have a product that can be sold in the private market, they might stay on the campus or they might open a facility in Colorado Springs or Fort Collins, or Grand Junction, or anywhere else in the state.”
Never call it an incubator
However, don’t confuse it with incubator space. “You never want to use the word ”incubator” to describe this, because that would not be an accurate description of what it is about,” Clark said. “An incubator is typically a start-up that needs financing and/or a subsidy. This is an accelerator facility with joint ventures between established companies and government entities.”
For example, Vestas, the giant wind-turbine company with a huge presence in Colorado, could form a partnership with Boeing, let’s say, and both of them in turn collaborate with NASA on technology that would be beneficial to both companies.
Clark hasn’t looked at any of the 30 proposals yet. He said a first cut will be made relatively quickly. Earlier, the Denver Post reported that Lousville, Loveland, Erie, Firestone and Longmont were throwing their hats in the ring for the prized economic boon.
Not that it is a slam dunk. “One of the challenges we face is that Colorado is strapped for cash, like every other state, so that puts limitations on how much capital the state could invest in this,” Clark said.
Last December, Colorado Gov. Bill Ritter, Jr., NASA Deputy Administrator Lori Garver, and Elaine Thorndike, CEO of CAMT, signed the Space Act Agreement, creating the Technology Acceleration Program. The program aims to spearhead the growth of a regional innovation cluster. The program’s purpose is to shorten the time between development and production of clean energy and aerospace technologies.
NASA ambassador
As part of the agreement, CAMT will partner with private sector companies to develop the ACE Park in Metro Denver. NASA will provide a Regional Innovation Ambassador to the TAP to help provide direct links to NASA and its resources.
“This initiative is an example of a regional economic development strategy that engages communities and private industry, and leverages state and federal funding to create jobs. This national pilot program designed to accelerate introduction of new products to market focuses and builds upon Colorado’s unique strengths in aerospace and clean energy,” said Elaine Thorndike, CEO of the Colorado Association of for Manufacturing and Technology.
Contact John Rebchook at JRCHOOK@gmail.com
