Denver, CO – As the Obama administration finalizes its jobs plan, Colorado U.S. Senators Michael Bennet and Mark Udall, along with Governor John Hickenlooper, today sent the president a report on innovation and job creation prepared earlier this year by Colorado leaders representing businesses and academia. The report was presented to the elected leaders by the “Coloradans for an Innovation Economy” working group in June.  It includes policy recommendations and action items on creating an environment where innovators, entrepreneurs and job creators can thrive.

“As a delegation, we are committed to working together to build the right environment in Colorado and the country for innovation to thrive,” the leaders said in a letter accompanying the report. “We believe that the Colorado Competes Report serves as a good template for a serious discussion on how we can spur innovation and put our country back to work.”

“Coloradans for an Innovation Economy” came together earlier this year at Bennet’s request to identify ways to promote economic competitiveness at the state and national levels through a greater focus on innovation and cross-sector collaboration.  The group includes leaders from business and academia and was co-chaired by Mark Sirangelo, head of Sierra Nevada Space Systems; Holli Riebel, President and CEO of the Colorado Bioscience Association; and Ron Sega, Vice President for Energy and Environment and Woodward Professor of Systems Engineering.

The full Colorado Competes report is available here.

The full text of the letter follows:

August 31, 2011

President Barack Obama

The White House

1600 Pennsylvania Ave., NW

Washington, D.C. 20500

Dear Mr. President:

We write to draw your attention to the attached report that reflects ideas and concepts from business leaders from across the state of Colorado.  We believe that the report will be useful as the Administration develops its new job creation plan.

The report provides numerous recommendations from Colorado’s clean energy, bioscience, and aerospace industries aimed at allowing innovators and entrepreneurs to thrive.  The Colorado business leaders gathered over a series of meetings to discuss these issues and compiled its recommendations in the attached “Colorado Competes” report. 

As you will see, the report provides numerous policy options that address issues central to job creation.  With a pragmatic eye towards our country’s fiscal crisis, the report includes several policy options meant to address our economy’s challenges in creative and fiscally responsible ways.  The report provides recommendations aimed at:

• Attracting capital to small and upstart businesses;

• Fostering a predictable business environment;

• Incentivizing advanced manufacturing; and

• Promoting workforce development. 

As a delegation, we are committed to working together to build the right environment both in Colorado and the country for innovation to thrive. 

We believe that the Colorado Competes report serves as a good template for a serious discussion on how we can spur innovation and put our country back to work.

Thank you for your consideration.

Sincerely,

Michael F. Bennet                                 Mark Udall                              John Hickenlooper

U.S. Senator                                        U.S. Senator                            Colorado Governor