Senator Michael Bennet met last Friday with a community of Denver-based entrepreneurs who explained a driving factor behind their decision to establish in Colorado: the state’s network of protected public lands and the outdoor opportunities afforded by those lands.
Senator Bennet spent nearly an hour touring Galvanize and discussing the benefits of starting a new business in Colorado. Galvanize is an innovative co-work space for tech entrepreneurs to grow their startups and collaborate on fresh new ideas.
A fledgling business faces a variety of tough decisions, all of which impact success or failure: what’s the business model, what are the sources of capital, how to gain market share, and how best to attract talent. The entrepreneurs at Galvanize added their names to a growing list of business owners choosing to establish their companies in the West because of open spaces, protected lands, and a high quality of life that attract the highest quality talent.
“The people that are part of our company are using these lands every day. They’re testing gear, they’re creating content around this gear and apparel. This is a large industry. For us, our unfair advantage is being in Colorado. It’s our leg up in this industry with our competition and it’s the reason we’re here.” –Active Junky CEO and Founder, Kevin McInerney
The West’s national parks, forests, monuments and wilderness areas offer growing companies a competitive advantage over other areas of the country. This is a major reason why the Western economy has outperformed the rest of the U.S. economy in key measures of growth-employment, population, and personal income.
In the last forty years, for instance, the West’s employment has grown by 152 percent compared to 78 percent in the rest of the country. This job growth was almost entirely in high paying service industries such as health care, real estate, high-tech, and finance, which created 19.3 million net new jobs.
Senator Bennet’s visit to Galvanize reaffirms that protecting public lands is a good investment in Colorado’s future and in the economic health of the Western United States. While gridlock in Washington has stymied most recent attempts to protect new lands, ensuring that land protection is placed on equal ground with energy development will guarantee entrepreneurs continue to establish, innovate, and grow in cities and towns across the West.