TechHubNow! Newsletter 2

Colorado Cleanrange Consortium

Colorado is positioned as a leading tech hub in the United States for Clean Energy Technologies and can become a global leader with the Economic Development Agency’s investment. Combined with its commitment to rural inclusion, DEIAB (Diversity, Equity, Inclusion, Accessibility, and Belonging) workforce pathways, and energy-justice decarbonization goals, Colorado is the ideal location for an EDA tech hub designation. The Colorado application put forth for this is being called the Colorado Cleanrange Consortium (CCC).

Overview

CCC contains three main projects: Project Innovation will accelerate the development and commercialization of new products, services, and processes to double investment and the number of startups in clean energy innovation. Project Workforce will grow a diverse and inclusive workforce by building early interest in STEM and working with industry partners to help underrepresented rural and urban workers develop new skills and enter the field faster while creating 15,000 new jobs. Project Testbeds will test and prove clean energy technologies in complex, integrated, real-world environments.

The CCC Metropolitan Statistical Area, or MSA, will sit in Denver, Boulder, and Fort Collins, with spokes out to Pueblo, La Plata, Moffat, and Logan counties.

The CCC will be led by Brenna Simmons-St. Onge, Executive Director of the Alliance for Collective Action, and the Alliance for Collective Action will act as the application’s entity.

CCC is also industry-led, with 140 different entities represented. Colorado’s industry strength will support this initiative, with over $1B in venture capital raised for CET in Colorado in 2022.

Colorado also boasts more than 33 federal labs and the only federal lab dedicated to renewable energy, the National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL). Global Energy Park also sits at the epicenter of the application to help unite the private and public sectors.

Application Process

In the process of creating the CCC application, a Steering Committee of 27 members within Industry, Government, Economic Development, Academia, and Federal Labs came together to narrow the application’s focus. This group was led by Lu Córdova, Director of Global Energy Park.

Further, a Governance Board of Directors has been nominated to guide the CCC going forward:

With EDA investment, Colorado’s estimated global market share of the advanced energy market is expected to grow by around $30 billion. EDA designation would accelerate lab-to-market innovation in CET, workforce opportunities, and decarbonization infrastructure, helping the US secure economic and national security.

Elevate Quantum consoetgngngngng

Quantum Information Technology (QIT) will be as important to the next century as semiconductors were to the last. With applications from finance and codebreaking to AI and medicine, QIT is a technological sea change that will unlock trillions in value and profoundly influence national security and geopolitics. Colorado is the leader in quantum research, and it is the most important state for securing U.S. preeminence in the Quantum Century. The Colorado application put forth for this is being called Elevate Quantum

Overview

Colorado is one of only two states to boast multiple large-scale quantum computing companies (Quantiuum/Honeywell, Infleqtion/ColdQuanta, and Atom Computing). We are the only state with significant quantum infrastructure players in both optics (e.g., Vescent) and low-temp (e.g., Maybell) quantum systems. Colorado is the leader in quantum research and the most important state for securing US preeminence in the Quantum Century.

The Elevate Quantum MSA will be the Denver-Aurora area, which is comprised of Boulder, Denver, Arvada, and Lakewood, as well as Greeley, rural Grand County and a spoke to New Mexico.

Elevate Quantum will be led by Corban Tillemann-Dick, CEO of Maybell Quantum, and Zachary Yerushalmi.

Elevate Quantum plans to launch a Quantum-focused startup accelerator in partnership with Techstars and Access Mode, establish a multi-modal open-access quantum laboratory to fuel start-up growth and tech transfer, and help quantum startups scale into global leaders through loan guarantees and strategic guidance.

Elevate Quantum also plans to invest in workforce development and promote diversity, equity, inclusion, access, and belonging (DEIAB) with the goal of helping 30,000 workers develop new skills for quantum jobs and ensuring equitable access to the industry.

Application Process

To create the Elevate Quantum application, a consortium of leading quantum organizations, educational institutions, and economic development entities across Colorado came together to drive the mission of speeding up lab-to-market transitions for quantum research.

A Governance Board has been nominated to guide Elevate Quantum going forward:

As one of the two grant applications backed by the government of the State of Colorado, Elevate Quantum can secure this designation and help pave the way for up to $1 billion in federal funding as well as a projected $2 billion in private investment, thus fortifying US economic, strategic, and national security for years to come.