Collaborators anxious to hear what’s next for project

LOVELAND — Business and government organizations backing the Rocky Mountain Center for Innovation and Technology have mobilized their staffs to help the project along.

A dozen staffers at the Colorado Association for Manufacturing and Technology are working full-time with partners from multiple other organizations to support the project, CEO Elaine Thorndike said. The association also is working with Gov. John Hickenlooper’s office and NASA representatives.

“The only thing that we’re waiting to do is to have a more detailed discussion with the new owner about how they see this fitting with their plan,” Thorndike said.

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When might such meetings take place?

Cumberland & Western wasn’t saying.

“We’re working on lots of plans for the facility,” Cumberland & Western Vice President Bill Murphree said. “When we have more specific information, we’ll be glad to share.”

Cumberland & Western Resources, based in Kentucky, bought the former Agilent Technologies property from the city of Loveland for $5 million in December. If all goes as hoped, the 177-acre campus, with 811,000 square feet of space in four buildings, could house as many as 70 companies.

Entities supporting the project include the National Institute of Standards and Technology, National Renewable Energy Laboratory, and Colorado Space Coalition, staffed by the Denver Metro Chamber of Commerce, according to the manufacturing and technology association.

Despite the push to promote the project, November was the last time manufacturing and technology association representatives met with Cumberland & Western executives.

Since then, only emails have been exchanged because the association agreed with Cumberland & Western that closing on the property remained a priority, Thorndike said.

“We’re still looking to see how we can collaborate and work together to see how the programs fit at their property,” she said. “But we can’t do that until we sit down and have a more detailed discussion.”

Until then, the association will continue its work on the project, including identifying potential tenants and suppliers as well as resources that companies need to bring their products to market, she said. In addition, a NASA technical adviser soon will relocate to Colorado to collaborate with the association and help Colorado companies indentify technologies they can use for commercialization. The association already has discussed those technologies with 40 companies.

Besides its work with NASA, the association also has contracted with Colorado State University to develop a Google-like map with details about companies in the project’s supply chain. Funded partly by the state Office of Economic Development and International Trade, the map will connect potential tenants and other companies with suppliers. Companies will be able to use the map to find suppliers in March.

Beyond that effort, the association’s Industry Programs Office provides access to federal and state grants and government programs that will benefit companies associated with the project. An association office at Colorado State also will connect companies with research laboratories and universities.

A $350,000 grant from the state economic development office to the manufacturing and technology association will help pay for training sessions and the creation of a database detailing assets the project can offer the global marketplace. It also will cover the costs of an office to identify funding sources and write and manage grants as well as aid for companies introducing new products into the marketplace.

The Metro Denver Economic Development Corp., an affiliate of the Denver Metro Chamber of Commerce, sees the project as a statewide initiative, CEO Tom Clark said. The organization originally believed the city of Loveland would own and manage the property and collaborate with the manufacturing and technology association.

The sale to Cumberland & Western “does nothing to diminish our commitment to the project in continuing to believe that it is a pivotal part of our long-term strategy in developing aerospace and clean energy,” Clark said.

But like manufacturing and technology association officials, economic development corporation representatives have not met with Cumberland & Western representatives lately.