The (silicon) mountains are calling

Denver’s a cool city to get stuck in. The beards a long, the mountains are tall and the people friendly.

 

There’s a lot to like. Which is why the city — a (give or take) three hour flight from either coast — isgrowing by almost 1000 persons a month (1.6 per cent). 

 

Colorado is one of just a handful of states where more Americans are born out of the state (53 per cent) than were born in it. This is not an accident: as part of its economic strategy, Denver has actively tried to attract the educated and creative classes. They come as tourists to ski and cycle, and then stay in order to escape the cut throat cubicles of the coastal cities. An unemployment rate of less than 3 per cent, and plenty of high tech, finance and engineering jobs to go round, a strategy of “move first, job second” is relatively low risk. It’s paying off too, Silicon Mountain Denver has the third highest growth rate of millennials in the country (the greatest is the neighbouring city of Colorado Springs).

 

Microsoft, Google and Facebook all have a presence there, as do Strava and Slack. Most of the major banks use Denver as their regional headquarters. And there’s plenty of capacity for the more entrepreneurially inclined: WeWork is the city’s largest operator of commercial property(!); and Denver is the birthplace and headquarters of Techstars. Australians startups are flocking to Denver as an alternative to other entre-hubs. Propellor Aero, Assignar, Dingo, Straker, Flightfox, Kebloom to name a few.

 

Denver has changed a lot in the last 30 years. For decades Denver was an oil and gas town, its fortunes decided largely by movements in oil prices. On the way up, Denver was the setting for nine seasons of Dynasty (the reboot moved to Atlanta). On the down, Denver suffered the highest commercial vacancy rates in the country (+30 per cent), and job losses for over 15 thousand oil workers.

 

The state had become overly dependent on “Coors, Carbon and the Cold War.” In the 1990s a decision was made to diversify the economy away from oil. Newly formed industry-led bodies like the Colorado Space Coalition and the Colorado Resource Council lead the way. Most recently, the Colorado Outdoor Recreation Industry Office has sparked a burgeoning outdoor recreation sector. It has helped that Denver is home to 32 federally funded research laboratories.

 

Incredibly, this once oil-dependent economy is now aiming to be carbon free by 2050. Sure Colorado has plenty of wind and sun and hydro, but there’s still an industry developed around fossil-fuelled power stations. New legislation has just been introduced to create a Just Transition Office to transition coal workers and their families access new education and training, and administer grants to assist coal-transition communities create a more diversified, equitable and vibrant economies. 

 

Looking further ahead, the State of Colorado is targeting seven “advanced industries” (Advanced Manufacturing, Aerospace, Bioscience, Electronics, Energy & Natural Resources, Infrastructure & Engineering and Technology & Information). Firms in these sectors are eligible to receive funding from Colorado’s Advanced Industries Accelerator grant program, which is designed to promote growth and sustainability in these industries by “helping accelerate commercialisation, encourage public-private partnerships, increase access to early stage capital and create a strong ecosystem that increases the state’s global competitiveness”. Grants are available to assist with: proof of concept; early-stage capital and retention; collaborative infrastructure; and export acceleration.

 

Overall, a pretty active industry policy. In addition, firms in advanced industries may also be eligible for:

·         An advanced industry tax credit

·         Tax credits to support R&D, job creation, partnering with higher education, and rural relocation

·         Customized job training (Colorado FIRST)

·         Strategic investment funds

·         Business advisory services from a network of global consultants; and

·         Procurement advice

Colorado is not without its issues, and like other states that have enjoyed city-centric successes, regional parity remains a concern. But, what sets Denver aside however, has been the way its grown: Denver is the only major metro region for example, that made progress on all aspects of Brookings’ inclusive growth monitor, Metro Monitor.