State coalition scores finalist status in federal Build Back Better challenge

FORT COLLINS — The Colorado Coalition, a regional stakeholder group led by Innosphere Ventures in partnership with organizations from government, business, academia and nonprofits, was named by the U.S. Economic Development Administration as a finalist in the $1 billion Build Back Better Regional Challenge. 

The Colorado Coalition will now advance to Phase 2 and compete for up to $100 million in American Rescue Plan funding to develop and scale the region’s research and development intensive industries.

The Colorado Coalition’s vision is to create innovation in two of Colorado’s leading industries — biosciences and cleantech. “We will leverage our nationally recognized innovation assets to build a world-class ecosystem for our region’s R&D-intensive growth industries,” Mike Freeman, CEO of Innosphere Ventures, said in a press statement. “These growth industries will be a leader in creating equitable growth across our region.”

The organizations that make up the Colorado Coalition are: Innosphere Ventures; state of Colorado; National Renewable Energy Laboratory; Colorado BioScience Association; Colorado Cleantech Industries Association; the Denver Metro Chamber of Commerce and Metro Denver Economic Development Corp.; the cities of Boulder, Denver, and Fort Collins; Jefferson County; and the research universities of Colorado School of Mines, University of Colorado and Colorado State University.

The Build Back Better Regional Challenge is meant to help local areas accelerate the economic recovery from the coronavirus pandemic and build economies that will be resilient to future economic shocks. The challenge is the largest economic-development initiative from the U.S. Department of Commerce in decades.

“Colorado has a real opportunity to advance and lead in bioscience and cleantech — not just in the state, but nationally and internationally,” said J. J. Ament, president and CEO of the Denver Metro Chamber of Commerce. “The Colorado Coalition is demonstrating our state’s proven track record of coming together to address the needs of our workforce and grow our economy for all Coloradans.”

“Achieving Colorado’s full potential lies in the opportunity to advance sub-segments of the bioscience and cleantech industries that require heavy R&D, specialized facilities, a well-trained workforce, and comprehensive startup support,” Freeman said. “The Colorado Coalition proposed a total of eight projects within our Phase I proposal that are critical to the U.S. competitiveness in biosciences and cleantech. With our six construction and two non-construction projects, our proposal will propel the Colorado Front Range to higher economic performance and equitable growth.”

As a finalist, the Colorado Coalition was awarded $500,000 to develop a plan to execute eight tightly focused projects that advance the bioscience and cleantech industries. As provided by the coalition, the projects are:

1. Denver Metro Chamber of Commerce’s Prosper CO:  Scale the existing Prosper CO initiative through the Metro Denver Economic Development Corp.  to recruit, retain and promote women and people of color across the cluster and connect more BIPOC businesses to procurement opportunities.
2. Expand startup and scaleup support for new ventures: Extend early support for all inventors at research universities and federal laboratories, invest in entrepreneurial training for a more diverse current and future workforce, expand product support and improve industry access.
3. Colorado School of Mines – Sustainable Infrastructure Center: Construct an R&D center focused on manufacturing, sustainable resource management, sustainable and advanced energy systems, water, and sustainable infrastructure.
4. Colorado State University BioMARC: Expand the existing BioMARC facility to create a national asset for infectious disease-related GMP product development.
5. Boulder Wetlabs – CU Boulder, city of Boulder and Innosphere. Construct startup BSL-2 wet laboratory spaces, including offices, meeting rooms, and entrepreneurial incubator programs and services within the Boulder ecosystem.
6. Denver Wetlabs – Colorado School of Mines, city of Denver, and Innosphere. Construct startup BSL-2 wet laboratory spaces, including offices, meeting rooms, and entrepreneurial incubator programs and services within the Denver ecosystem.
7. Colorado State University. Expand the existing Powerhouse Energy Campus to provide advanced laboratories for cleantech innovators to commercialize energy and climate solutions.
8. State of Colorado, National Renewable Energy Laboratory, and Jefferson County. Public-private partnership to create a Global Energy Park adjacent to the NREL campus focused on equitable energy transition, decarbonization, new climate solutions, improved public health, and environmental sustainability.

EDA received 529 applications from regions in all 50 states and five territories; 60 finalists were named. Colorado Coalition was the only applicant in Colorado to be named a finalist.

In Phase 2, finalists will compete for implementation assistance. EDA will award 20-30 coalitions each up to $100 million.

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