1998 – Broomfield voted to leave Boulder County

BROOMFIELD — Boulder County’s economy hummed with the confident energy of a finely tuned sports car in 1998.

Telecommunications and natural-foods companies gobbled up millions of dollars in venture capital. Upscale hotels popped up like sunflowers along the U.S. Highway 36 Corridor. Commercial and residential construction remained strong.

The event most people believed would have the most impact on the Boulder County economy didn’t surface until the end of the year. In November, Broomfield voters decided the city should secede from Boulder, Jefferson, Adams and Weld counties and become a city and a county of its own.

The move meant Boulder…