The Colorado Coalition, the regional stakeholder group, led by Innosphere Ventures in partnership with organizations from government, business, academia, and nonprofits, was named by the Economic Development Administration (EDA) as a finalist in the $1 billion Build Back Better Regional Challenge.

 The organizations that make up the Colorado Coalition include Innosphere Ventures; State of Colorado; National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL); Colorado Cleantech Industries Association (CCIA); Colorado BioScience Association (CBSA); the Denver Metro Chamber of Commerce and Metro Denver Economic Development Corporation; the cities of Boulder, Denver, and Fort Collins; Jefferson County; the research universities of Colorado School of Mines, University of Colorado, and Colorado State University.

 “Colorado has a real opportunity to advance and lead in bioscience and cleantech – not just in the state, but nationally and internationally,” said J. J. Ament, President, and CEO of the Denver Metro Chamber of Commerce. “The Colorado Coalition is demonstrating our state’s proven track record of coming together to address the needs of our workforce and grow our economy for all Coloradans.”

 The Build Back Better Regional Challenge provides transformative investments up to $100 million per grantee to develop and strengthen regional industry clusters across the country while embracing economic equity, creating good-paying jobs, and enhancing U.S. competitiveness globally.

 “Achieving Colorado’s full potential lies in the opportunity to advance sub-segments of the bioscience and cleantech industries that require heavy R&D, specialized facilities, a well-trained workforce, and comprehensive startup support,” said Mike Freeman, CEO of Innosphere Ventures. “The Colorado Coalition proposed a total of eight projects within our Phase I proposal that are critical to the U.S. competitiveness in biosciences and cleantech. With our 6 construction and 2 non-construction projects, our proposal will propel the Colorado Front Range to higher economic performance and equitable growth.”

 The Colorado Coalition will now advance to Phase 2 and compete for up to $100 million in American Rescue Plan funding to develop and scale the region’s research and development (R&D) intensive industries.

Please contact Mary Austin with questions.