Chemical company could add 100 jobs in Weld County

DENVER — An unidentified chemical manufacturer could expand its Weld County operations and add as many 100 new jobs. 

The Colorado Economic Development Commission approved a tax-incentive package worth just more than $1 million Tuesday to entice that company — known as “Project Lighthouse” — to move forward with expansion.

It is the commission’s practice not to identify companies that the Colorado Office of Economic Development and International Trade is recruiting until incentives are accepted.

The privately held company with existing Weld County operations “develops and manufactures specialty chemicals … [that have had applications] in drug therapies, industrial and agricultural processes,” OEDIT deputy director and director of global business development Michelle Hadwiger said.

Boulder Scientific Co. — which has operations in the Weld County portion of Longmont, along with facilities in Mead and Milliken — fits the description of Project Lighthouse. Boulder Scientific, according to its website, makes compounds used in “drug therapies, industrial and agricultural applications, and specialty chemicals.”

The Weld County facility would specialize in chemicals used in the oil and gas industry, Hadwiger said. 

Weld County, along with competing sites in Wyoming and Louisiana, “have been shortlisted as potential locations primarily because of their geographical proximity to key customers in the petroleum industry,” she said.

The average annual wage for the 100 new jobs — spread across engineering, chemistry, management operations and research positions — would be more than $66,000, which is 134 percent more than the average Weld County worker earns, according to OEDIT.

“The project supports the state’s economic goals of creating high-paying jobs in a niche segment of advanced manufacturing,” Hadwiger said. “… We have no doubt the company will be able to create the jobs they anticipate creating based on our financial analysis.”

If Project Lighthouse is indeed Boulder Scientific, an expansion in Weld County would align with recent company growth. The firm, which currently employees about 200 employees across the organization, recently completed an expansion of its Longmont facilities to boost research, development and manufacturing capabilities at its 4161 Specialty Place operation.

Upstate Colorado Economic Development CEO Rich Werner expressed support for Project Lighthouse. 

Despite the passage of Senate Bill 181, a set of laws passed earlier this year that some feared would lead to an exodus of oil and gas industry-affiliated companies, Werner said Project Lighthouse could still move forward successfully.