Economy & Economic Development  June 18, 2020

EDC OKs tax incentives for 2 economic-development projects eyeing Broomfield, Boulder counties 

DENVER — The Colorado Economic Development Commission unanimously approved tax-incentive packages Thursday totalling roughly $5.5 million for a pair of unidentified companies that are considering setting up operations in Broomfield and Boulder counties.

It is the commission’s practice not to identify companies the Colorado Office of Economic Development and International Trade is recruiting until incentives are accepted. That acceptance process often takes six month to a year.

Project Hummingbird, “a publicly-traded American technology company that is considering relocating its headquarters to Colorado,” was approved for $2,061,324 in performance-based job-growth-incentive tax credits over an eight-year period, according to Michelle Hadwiger, OEDIT deputy director and director of global business development.

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One of the metro Denver area locations under consideration for the new headquarters, which would be co-located with an engineering center, is Broomfield County. Sites in Ohio and Maine are also being considered.

Should the firm, which employs 5,500 people worldwide and is currently based in the Northeast, accept the incentives, it would employ 75 people over that eight-year period at an average annual wage of $168,396.

Project Hummingbird anticipates $4 million in capital expenditures to build the new headquarters.

The incentive approval “signals to tech-enabled companies that Colorado is an internationally competitive market for growth and expansion opportunities following the COVID-19 pandemic,” Hadwiger said. 

Project Nutmeg, a subsidiary of a large U.S. pharmaceutical firm with existing operations in Colorado, is considering opening a new manufacturing operation in Boulder, Broomfield or Denver counties.

That new 70,000-square-foot, $20-million facility would “significantly expand the company’s discovery team and laboratory operations” and “bring the potential for significant follow-on investment from the parent company,” Hadwiger said. 

The EDC approved Project Nutmeg for $3,453,952 in performance-based job-growth-incentive tax credits over an eight-year period. In exchange, the firm would create 106 new jobs that pay an average annual wage of $125,142.

Colorado economic-development officials touted the state’s potential to expand its technology and biosciences economy as firms seek less expensive facilities away from high-priced hubs on the coasts. 

“The interest [in new Colorado operations] is steady and strong and perhaps is increasing somewhat” since the COVID-19 pandemic began, Hadwiger said. “We’re hearing anecdotally that in coastal communities — California, New York — and in really dense markets, companies are looking to exit those markets and go to lower-cost markets and to markets where employees feel their health, wellness and lifestyle is valued at a higher level. Colorado represents those factors in a lot of ways.”

DENVER — The Colorado Economic Development Commission unanimously approved tax-incentive packages Thursday totalling roughly $5.5 million for a pair of unidentified companies that are considering setting up operations in Broomfield and Boulder counties.

It is the commission’s practice not to identify companies the Colorado Office of Economic Development and International Trade is recruiting until incentives are accepted. That acceptance process often takes six month to a year.

Project Hummingbird, “a publicly-traded American technology company that is considering relocating its headquarters to Colorado,” was approved for $2,061,324 in performance-based job-growth-incentive tax credits over an eight-year period, according…

Lucas High
A Maryland native, Lucas has worked at news agencies from Wyoming to South Carolina before putting roots down in Colorado.
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