Boulder’s success called model for state

BOULDER – Political and business leaders are trying to copy Boulder’s success as they create the state “Blueprint for Innovation,” Colorado’s top economic-development official said Tuesday at the Boulder Economic Summit.

The summit, organized by the Boulder Economic Council and hosted by the University of Colorado-Boulder, focused on research and innovation. Boulder’s combination of the two is seen as one of the key ways Colorado can improve its economic performance, said Ken Lund, executive director of the Colorado Office of Economic Development and International Trade.

Many of the ideas upon which state leaders are drawing have come from Boulder, Lund said, especially its research institutions and entrepreneurs.

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“There’s no better example for the rest of the state than what you all have created in this community,” he said.

Among the initiatives Lund’s office is spearheading is the Colorado Innovation Network. The network’s goal is to bring together private enterprise, public officials and academic researchers to discuss ways to promote economic growth.

The state also is refining its “Blueprint for Innovation,” which will try to develop best practices communities can share while realizing that every city in Colorado has its own distinct business community.

“It won’t be perfect, and it won’t have everything … but it will be a place to start,” Lund said.

If research and development is going to be one of the pillars of the state’s academic growth, federal labs and research universities in Colorado could use some financial help, CU-Boulder chancellor Philip DiStefano said.

Private companies are ending research divisions devoted to the type of basic research companies such as AT&T once did at its renowned Bell Laboratories.

“It has increasingly become the job of universities to do the research these companies used to create,” DiStefano said.

The impact of research is real, CU professor Richard Wobbekind said during his economic-outlook presentation.

The Boulder area has a high concentration of jobs economists categorize as professional and business services. They include jobs with tech companies and conducting research.

The sector has been a mainstay for the area, with job creation growing fastest in that area.

“It’s really been that area that’s surging, and carrying the rest of the economy along,” Wobbekind said.