Tech Hub Program will drive regional economic development centered on Colorado, bring thousands of good-paying jobs
WASHINGTON – Today, U.S. Senators John Hickenlooper and Michael Bennet applauded the news reporting Colorado has been awarded a Regional Tech Hub designation. The Tech Hubs Program is an economic development initiative designed to accelerate economic growth by strengthening a region’s capacity to manufacture, commercialize, and deploy critical technologies. As part of the Tech Hubs Program, Colorado will strengthen its national leadership as the epicenter for innovation in emerging technologies and workforce development.
“This is the culmination of the hard work we started on my first day as Mayor: making Colorado the best place in the country to do business, to find a good-paying job, and to live a good life,” said Hickenlooper. “This will future-proof our successes and ensure we remain an economic and technological powerhouse.”
“America must keep our competitive edge in next-generation technologies like quantum computing,” said Bennet. “Colorado has spent decades investing in research and development and supporting a vibrant start-up ecosystem to strengthen American leadership in quantum technologies. Today’s announcement will ensure we continue to lead the country in this field. There’s no state better positioned to serve as a quantum technology hub.”
Hickenlooper worked to write and pass the CHIPS and Science Act which created the Regional Technology and Innovation Hubs Program as Chair of the Senate Commerce Committee’s Space and Science subcommittee. He also served on the Bipartisan Innovation & Competition Conference Committee to negotiate a final version of the bill which was passed into law.
The proposal will focus on developing high-yield use cases for quantum computing, quantum sensing, quantum networking, and quantum hardware technologies. For Coloradans, applications in Quantum Information Science (QIS) can help accelerate drug discovery, discover sources of critical minerals, provide secure encrypted communications, and enhance the capabilities of space-based navigation systems or Earth observation satellites. The proposal will focus on translating emerging QIS technologies from labs to markets, supporting startup growth in quantum information systems, and growing a skilled and diverse quantum information systems workforce.
The Tech Hubs Program was enacted as part of the CHIPS and Science Act of 2022 which authorized $10 billion for the program over five years. As part of the FY 2023 Consolidated Appropriations Act, Congress has already appropriated $500 million to launch the program.
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