"Colorado is in terrific competitive shape," says Elliot Pulham, president and CEO of Colorado Springs-based Space Foundation, a national nonprofit agency that works to promote space exploration with education. "We have a very healthy, nicely diversified space industry." Colorado officials have targeted the industry and hope to soon claim the title of third largest space economy in the U.S. besides California and Florida.
        In January 2002, Colorado Governor Bill Owens approved a measure creating a Colorado Space Advocate officer. Colorado's space industry leaders -- such as Lockheed Martin, Boeing, Raytheon and Ball Aerospace -- have committed private funds for the project and predict the new office will attract more industry to the state. "The space industry is a key player in our overall high-tech economy," says Marc Holtzman, Colorado's Secretary of Technology.
        The space and defense industry is a big player in Colorado's economy. Roughly 38,000 local jobs are in the space sector and 75,000 other jobs are a result of Colorado's space industry. That number is predicted to reach 232,000 by the year 2010. The numbers make sense, since Colorado is home to NORAD (North American Aerospace Command), the North American early warning and aerospace control mission command. The state also receives more than 10 percent of military space procurement, and the three largest U.S. launch systems -- the Titan, Atlas and Delta rockets -- are all manufactured or assembled in Colorado.
        "The fact that this region has identified the industry as a top priority by establishing and supporting Colorado Space Strategy Initiative Committees, underlines the industry's promise for continued growth and success," says Major General Andy Love, a retired member of the National Guard and president of a Denver real estate consulting firm.
        Emerging as a new Colorado industry is nanotechnology -- the creation of materials and systems, smaller than the width of a human hair, for use in everything from biotech to airport scanning devices. Zetta Core, a Pasadena, Calif.-based electronic chip manufacturer, is moving its corporate headquarters to Denver. Randy Levin, Zetta Core's CEO and president, said the firm was drawn to the Denver area because of the healthy semiconductor market and the talented labor pool. "Why not Colorado?" says Mark Modzelewski, executive director of New York-based NanoBusiness Alliance. "Colorado does have capital and people who are used to investing in technology; it has all those skill sets and a government that's very receptive to technology business."

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