French high-performance bicycle manufacturer Lapierre, a subsidiary of Dutch firm Accell Group, has come to set up its U.S. headquarters offices in Broomfield, just outside Denver, after originally looking at Longmont, north of Boulder on I-25 and halfway between Denver and Fort Collins. The company was equally drawn by the fact that Colorado is a cycling hotbed and the existing Colorado presence of Lapierre clothing partner Lafuma.
   But the high-performance factor extends to more well-known high-tech names like semiconductor design firm Agere Systems, which also chose Longmont and is sticking with that selection. The Allentown, Pa.-based company has moved into a new 30,000-sq.-ft. (2,787-sq.-m.) facility Agere will use to deliver advanced storage integrated circuits as well as customer support for hard disk drive developers.
   Prominent corporations in Longmont include Agere customer Seagate (employing 1,200), Amgen and Xilinx. Amgen was recently granted long term development rights for the buildout of its campus, which employs 600 currently. At build-out on its 240-acre (97-hectare) spread, the campus could accommodate 5 million sq. ft. (464,500 sq. m.) and 5,000 employees.
   Amgen's business segment of biotech is the fourth-largest primary employer segment in Longmont, at 861 employees, trailing computer software (983), food processing (1,297) and computers, peripherals and interface products (2,945).

Metro Denver Econ. Dev. Corp. Fitzsimons Redevelopment Authority Pueblo Econ. Dev. Corp. The Bell Policy Center

   According to the existing industry report conducted every year by the Longmont Area Economic Council, which surveys every primary employer, Longmont's industrial base is comprised of 238 primary employers that provide more than 13,000 jobs, with 172 (72 percent) of the companies located in Boulder County, and 66 (28 percent) located in Weld County. "Survey results indicate the potential for 981 new jobs, $88.4 million in capital investment and use of more than 625,400 additional square feet of space over the next three years," reads the report. "The technology sector accounts for 53 percent of the estimated new investment."
   The Council reports that some 2 million sq. ft. (185,800 sq. m.) of space is available in the market, representing 19.3 percent, and is hoping some of it can be filled by the 19 prospects it worked with during the first quarter - five more than it worked with one year prior. Meanwhile, 92 of the 156 existing companies responding to the survey indicated they plan to expand in some form within the next three years, with two-thirds of them in Boulder County.