Economy & Economic Development  March 23, 2017

Report: State’s federal labs had $2.6B economic impact in 2015

BOULDER — The 33 federally funded research facilities in Colorado contributed an estimated $2.6 billion to the state’s economy in 2015 and either directly or indirectly supported more than 17,600 jobs, according to a report released Thursday by the Leeds School of Business at the University of Colorado Boulder.

The report, titled Economic and Fiscal Impacts of Federally Funded Research Facilities in Colorado FY2013-FY2015, said the economic impact of the labs on the Colorado economy was $2.5 billion in fiscal years 2013 and 2014. It said the labs directly employed nearly 7,800 people in 2015, and supported an additional 9,800 jobs through the multiplier effect — people employed by companies benefiting from the labs’ research, such as instrument makers and utility companies.

In 2015, the 33 labs had annual budgets totaling an estimated $1.2 billion, the majority coming from federal funding, but the report did not provide a breakdown.

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According to survey results, Colorado’s federally funded scientists live in 30 of the state’s 64 counties, with the highest number in Boulder, Larimer and Jefferson counties. Economic impact in Boulder, Jefferson and Larimer counties totaled $1.1 billion, $654 million, and $195 million, respectively.

Boulder led the way, with 3,883 full-time and contract workers in 2015 who received an average annual income of $99,840. Jefferson County had fewer federal employees — 2,823 — but they drew annual salaries averaging $108,113. Larimer County had 889 employees, with an average annual salary of $80,074, according to the report.

This is the fourth economic-impact report produced by the Leeds School of Business for CO-LABS. Previous reports were produced in 2008, 2010 and 2013.

CO-LABS is a nonprofit consortium made up of Colorado federal research laboratories, research universities, state and local governments, economic-development organizations, private businesses and nonprofit organizations. CO-LABS is an acronym for Colorado Leveraging Assets for Better Science.

For the latest report, Brian Lewandowski, associate director of the Leeds School’s Business Research Division, surveyed Colorado’s federally funded research laboratories, from the Crops Research Laboratory in Fort Collins to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration in Boulder and the National Renewable Energy Laboratory in Golden. He collected data on employees’ educational attainment, organizational budgets, spinoff companies and technology transfer. Ten labs reported active commercialization programs, from tech transfer and licensed technology to spinoff companies and public-private partnerships with shared space or equipment.

“Colorado’s federal research facilities conduct wide ranging basic and applied research that result in scientific and commercializable research advancements,” Lewandowski said. “Beyond the research, these facilities play an important economic function in the Colorado economy, including employing a body of highly educated researchers and through the purchasing of goods and services within the Colorado economy.”

The report pointed out that of those employed in federal laboratories, 55 percent have master’s or doctoral degrees, compared with 15 percent statewide; and Colorado ranks fourth among states for the percentage of the workforce engaged in science and engineering jobs.

Brian Payer, CO-LABS’ board chairman, said the report revealed that there is a “tremendous synergy between the laboratories, businesses and the community. The labs spur innovation through spin-out companies, technology licensing, cooperative work agreements, and access for formal and informal conversations with world-class experts across an incredible breadth of disciplines.

“In addition, we learned that people want to live here, making it easier for the labs to recruit top-notch talent to the state.”

Dan Powers, CO-LABS’s executive director, said the collective impact of the labs’ research also ripples out to every state in the country.

“Ranging from partnership agreements to licensing of technology to outright free access to the research from these taxpayer-funded labs, thousands of companies throughout the United States representing hundreds of thousands of jobs utilize this science in ways that make us healthier, safer, more sustainable and global leaders in innovation,” powers said.

The study also summarized the federal science funding landscape, drawing from national reports to highlight Colorado’s ranking among states in funding from the U.S. Department of Commerce (second), Department of Interior (second), NASA (third), Environmental Protection Agency (fifth) and National Science Foundation (sixth).

 

BOULDER — The 33 federally funded research facilities in Colorado contributed an estimated $2.6 billion to the state’s economy in 2015 and either directly or indirectly supported more than 17,600 jobs, according to a report released Thursday by the Leeds School of Business at the University of Colorado Boulder.

The report, titled Economic and Fiscal Impacts of Federally Funded Research Facilities in Colorado FY2013-FY2015, said the economic impact of the labs on the Colorado economy was $2.5 billion in fiscal years 2013 and 2014. It said the labs directly employed nearly 7,800 people in 2015, and…

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