Keep our research economy strong

It often gets overlooked: Colorado’s research economy seemingly sits behind the scenes, with professors and researchers in laboratories at one of the state’s research universities or federal laboratories.

But, eventually, many discoveries made by those researchers and scientists find their way to the marketplace, as technologies are commercialized, either through licensing agreements or creation of spinoff companies.

All along the Front Range, bioscience, clean-tech, energy, software, Internet and other high-tech companies have located in Colorado in large part because of the presence of science-driven institutions.

But does the public at large truly appreciate how important our universities and laboratories are to the state’s economy?

We think not. One can explore huge reductions in state funding to see that these institutions are somewhat taken for granted. That’s one reason that our company, BizWest Media LLC, has teamed with Colorado State University in Fort Collins, the University of Colorado Boulder and the University of Colorado Denver | Anschutz Medical Campus to produce Research Colorado, an annual magazine designed to tell the stories of the state’s research community.

Along with the Colorado School of Mines and 25 federal laboratories, as well as other research generated at other universities and private companies, these institutions generate billions of dollars in payroll and capital investment in Colorado produce billions of dollars in economic impact in Colorado, spurring job in the private sector at the same time.

Consider these numbers:

• CU’s four campuses — CU-Boulder, CU Denver, Anschutz Medical Campus and University of Colorado-Colorado Springs — employ more than 26,000 people and contribute more than $6 billion a year to the state economy through spending on goods and services. The university system received $790 million in research funding in 2011 and has spawned 114 companies since the mid-1990s, the vast majority of which still have operations in Colorado.

• Colorado State University in Fort Collins brings in more than $330 million per year for research and employs 7,000 people. In addition, CSU alumni produce $5.2 billion in house hold income in Colorado.

• Collectively, CU and CSU churn out more than 320 new patent filings annually, each one representing even more economic potential.

Bioscience, clean technologies, environmental engineering, aerospace and atmospheric sciences are just examples of the major industry sectors that benefit from Colorado’s research universities and federal laboratories.

Think about these institutions’ direct employment and purchases, as well as the spinoff companies, contract research, patent work and other economic benefits.

Relating that story is a priority for our company, BizWest Media LLC, which publishes several regional business publications, including the Boulder County Business Report and the Northern Colorado Business Report, as well as numerous magazines and industry directories. Covering the research core of Colorado’s universities and laboratories has become one of our major areas of focus, not only with Research Colorado, but also with our recurring Discoveries section in each of our newspapers.

Research Colorado features articles highlighting the economic impact of the universities and federal laboratories, key areas of scientific excellence and profiles of new initiatives and researchers.

In addition, each of our sponsoring universities is featured in eight-page sections highlighting key areas of strength at their particular institutions.

This publication is being distributed through the sponsoring universities, economic-development agencies along the Front Range, through direct mail and as inserts in our two Colorado business publications.

We’re grateful for the help and support of officials at CSU, CU-Boulder and the CU Anschutz Medical Campus. Please contact us with ideas for the next edition in 2014!

Christopher Wood is publisher of the Boulder County Business Report. Jeff Nuttall is publisher of the Northern Colorado Business Report. Both are managers of BizWest Media LLC. They can be reached at cwood@bcbr.com and jnuttall@ncbr.com, respectively.

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