Companies still look toward Front Range

The Colorado Economic Development Commission traveled to the Western Slope for its October meeting, part of an ongoing effort by commissioners to understand conditions in the state’s less populated areas. But as is often the case, the incentive requests before them Thursday in Montrose were for companies looking to relocate to the northern Front Range.

“There is a recognition that metro Denver doesn’t need any more help,” said Jay Seaton, a commissioner and publisher of the Grand Junction Daily Sentinel, of legislative efforts to funnel more support into rural areas. But convincing out-of-state companies that other parts of the state could serve them well has proved tough to do.

The commission approved an award of $80,000 from the state’s Strategic Fund to a Pennsylvania biotech company that makes orthopedic implants. The company, which made the request under the code name Project Bootstraps, currently relies on contract manufacturers and would like to handle more of its own production. It is considering Longmont for a plant that would employ 32 workers making an average annual wage of $73,386. Longmont is matching the state incentive, which could rise to $96,000 if the company locates its facility in an enterprise zone or an area that the state has designated as economically distressed.

Commissioners also gave a preliminary nod for up to $760,000 in incentives from the strategic fund for a Los Angeles transportation company that is looking at establishing