Colorado Launches Increased Efforts to Lure, Grow Aerospace Companies

Apr. 2—Even though Colorado is already enjoying aerospace-industry cluster growth, state and metro Denver economic development officials are not slowing down on efforts to attract more.

The high-salary jobs that often come with engineering and physics roles from these companies are too valuable to Colorado's economy, and the industry cluster has Colorado's higher-education institutions focused on keeping the talent pipeline flowing strong, officials said.

"For more than 60 years Colorado has cultivated an incredible boundary-pushing aerospace industry," said Jeff Kraft, deputy director of the state's Office of Economic Development and International Trade (OEDIT) via email. "When companies choose Colorado, they become part of an important aerospace economic ecosystem that not only puts Colorado as the second-largest aerospace economy in the nation in absolute job numbers and the largest state on a per capita basis for aerospace jobs, but continues to advance groundbreaking missions related to national security, space and planetary science."

In the past two calendar years, OEDIT's Economic Development Commission has received, and approved, eight aerospace company proposals to either relocate or expand here. The companies are seeking Job Growth Incentive Tax Credits, which can be worth millions of dollars. State officials agreed to award $19.7 million in grants to those companies to create some 2,047 jobs over the next five to nine years. Three of those companies accepted and are growing here.

Two in 2021 included PteroDynamics Inc., which signed a contract for industrial space in Colorado Springs for a research and development facility to build its vertical takeoff and landing aircraft. It's hoping to create 186 jobs in El Paso County in the next five years, with an average salary of $120,645. OEDIT awarded up to $2.5 million in tax credits.

Another was Orbit Fab, which bills itself as the "Gas Station in Space." It hopes to bring almost 200 new jobs when it moves to Denver from San Francisco.

"While there are several states with an aerospace presence in the U.S., Colorado made the most sense for our team," said CEO Daniel Faber at the time. "From the beginning of our selection process, the combination of Metro Denver EDC's industry data and collaborative approach made it clear that we would be joining a thriving aerospace environment with a ton of growth potential. We have no doubt that we'll hit the ground running in Denver."

Said PteroDynamics CEO Matthew Graczyk: "We don't look at those incentives as free money. We look at that as a way for us to attract better talent and pay a better wage. For our company, the people are everything."

And perhaps the biggest Colorado aerospace industry development in 2021 was news of billionaire Jeff Bezos-owned Blue Origin rolling out plans for a south Denver operation in Highlands Ranch.

The rapidly growing aerospace company, headquartered in Kent, Wash., currently has about 4,000 employees nationwide.

"Our South Denver office will support functions across Blue with a focus on program management, systems engineering, avionics, software, integration, and mission design in support of our launch vehicle and space systems programs," according to the company's website.

Economic development officials declined to talk about what, if any, involvement they had with Blue Origin's announcement.

"2020 and 2021 were banner years for aerospace growth here, despite all the odds," said Metro Denver Economic Development Corp.'s Vicky Lea. "Colorado aerospace employment has grown by 30% in the last five years. That's the fruits of the efforts going on with economic development and state leadership."

Lea, director and aerospace and aviation for the corporation, said they're rolling out a new booth for this year's Space Symposium in Colorado Springs to highlight the area's growing aerospace community, its strong talent pool, area military installations like U.S. Space Force and military retirees.

"We're going to take the opportunity to continue to tell the story of Colorado aerospace and what makes it so successful," Lea said in an interview. "We're going to drill down into the ingredients that makes the secret sauce that makes Colorado aerospace industry so special."

The state is known for its spirit of "collaboration and cohesion," Lea said.

"It cuts across all levels and all aspects of the industry, from the academic to the economic development efforts and state leadership, too."

She said the state's aerospace-industry talent pool runs deep, not just from the institutions like the University of Colorado Boulder and the Colorado School of Mines, but in the large number of military retirees who chose to call the state home.

"It feeds into addressing the need for business personnel," she said. "Those with security clearance are always in demand."

Finally, officials tout the "scale and scope of space assets here," she said.

"From the academic, universities and research institutes, to the military installations here, aerospace companies want to be in close proximity to military installations, as the Department of Defense is a key customer.

"On top of all that, Colorado is great place to live and work," Lea said.

"While Colorado has welcomed more than 400 companies to this great state with our unparalleled workforce, our office continues to find ways to support companies throughout their journey while sharing success stories that highlight Colorado's growing economy," Kraft said. "This is why we say in Colorado we are 'a mile closer to space.'"

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