Separately, Owens has called for the creation of monetary incentives, to be awarded by the state's economic development commission, for companies that bring high-paying jobs to the state. And he wants to allow fledgling biotech and high-tech companies to sell their net operating losses to other companies.
   That sort of company is the ideal tenant at the life sciences community taking shape on the 578 acres (234 hectares) in Aurora formerly home to Fitzsimons Army Medical Center. Eighteen companies have now taken roost at Colorado Bioscience Park Aurora, jointly operated by The Fitzsimons Redevelopment Authority, City of Aurora and University of Colorado.
   That's not the only park in Aurora seeing significant action. As noted in the recently issued report, "Toward a More Competitive Colorado," published by the Metro Denver Economic Development Corp. and Qwest, IT and software is among five employment clusters the agency is focused on for potential future job growth (the others are aerospace, bioscience, energy and financial services). But the future is here for Raytheon Corp., the defense contractor and computer systems firm, which is creating 350 new jobs averaging $77,000 in salary with a $19.2-million, 150,000-sq.-ft. (13,935-sq.-m.) facility that could eventually house 750 personnel. Raytheon continues to grow as Aurora's largest employer, and now counts more than 2,600 on its Aurora payroll.
   Aurora is seeing plenty of development activity in an area where I-70 and the E-470 beltway intersect, including ProLogis Park 70 and its 2.7 million potential sq. ft. (250,830 sq. m.). Other active developers in the immediate area include Majestic Realty and Lauth Property Group.