Blog: Ten great days for Metro Denver

Good news arrives in many packages

Good news is hard to find these days, even for Metro Denver. But the last 10 days have given us renewed confidence in Metro Denver's economic rebound. Consider this:

  • CNBC ranks Colorado third-best for business for the second year-in-a-row. 
  • Vestas Technology R&D Americas, Inc. announced a 47,675-square-foot lease in Louisville for its new engineering and product development division, initially employing 75 to 125 people.  Congratulations to Mayor Chuck Sisk and our partners along the Northwest Corridor for this great addition to our cleantech cluster. We estimate the company's existing capital investment in Colorado at $1billion. 
  • DaVita closed on land for its corporate headquarters in the Platte Valley next to Millennium Bridge. The healthcare giant promises to not only be a great corporate citizen but is intent on having a positive impact on its new home town. Its 14-story building for 400+ employees is kick-starting the Denver Union Station development—a key component of the entire FasTracks effort. Congratulations to our partners with the City of Denver, particularly Mayor Hickenlooper, and the Denver Office of Economic Development. 
  • Vestas announces more hiring in its blades and nacelles plants in Windsor and Brighton. After a swoon in the sales of turbines last year, Vestas' investments in Windsor and Brighton appear to be hitting the sweet spot in new business. This past week the company issued media releases indicating a new round of hiring. Our partner in Weld County, Larry Burkhardt, was featured on local television stations. Congratulations to Windsor, Brighton, and Weld County for their successes in these massive capital projects.
  • TriZetto Group, Inc., a Newport Beach healthcare software company, announced it will move its corporate headquarters to Greenwood Village. Its new CEO Trace Devanny announced the move shortly after his appointment. The Southeast Business Partnership brought a portion of the company to Greenwood Village back in 2007. The corporate move now brings the number of new corporate headquarters moving the Metro Denver in the past seven years to 44.
  • And finally, the agreement between Denver Transit Partners and RTD for construction and operation of the East Corridor to DIA and Gold Line to Arvada and Westminster was completed. This will commence the four-year-construction of this important portion of the FasTracks system. Groundbreaking is scheduled for the end of this month. Congratulations to Phil Washington, the RTD Board and team, and Kim Day and her staff at DIA. 

In a time where confidence in the local market is crucial, these events are giving us some optimism that an overall lift in the economy will commence in 2011. As we look forward to the completion of several big projects, such as ConocoPhillips' R&D facility in Louisville and DaVita's HQs in 2012, and the commencement of the East Corridor construction, 2011 through 2014 are looking very strong.

From Clark's Cone of Silence, an economic development blog authored by Tom Clark