State OKs incentives for pharmaceutical company exploring Boulder County expansion

DENVER — The Colorado Economic Development Commission approved a package of incentives Thursday aimed at enticing an unnamed pharmaceutical company to expand its Centennial State footprint with a new operation in Boulder County. 

The company, known as Project Orchid, is described in state documents only as “subsidiary of a Fortune 500 company that is responsible for discovery research across therapeutic modalities.”

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. 

Project Orchid plans to take over 40,000 square feet of space in Boulder or Louisville and invest more than $8 million in capital improvements, according to Michelle Hadwiger, OEDIT deputy director and director of global business development.

The company has 65 Colorado employees and expects to add another 62 over the next two years. 

Should Project Orchid opt to expand in Colorado — the company is also considering Indiana and Minnesota — and succeed in adding those jobs, it’s eligible for $1,207,255 in tax incentives. 

The jobs would pay an average annual salary of $135,484, according to OEDIT. 

An expanded Colorado operation is necessary due to Project Orchid’s ongoing growth and the Boulder County facility would “have a discovery team and laboratory operations,” Hadwiger said.

Companies that have taken advantage of state subsidies have “seen much success over the years in being able to take advantage of existing talent pools” in the Boulder Valley region, she said. 

Project Orchid has already used job-growth incentives on a previous expansion effort in Colorado.