Aerospace

Colorado has the second largest aerospace economy in the United States.  This constantly evolving industry includes companies that develop products and systems for commercial, military and space exploration applications.  South Metro Denver is well positioned to capture continued growth in aerospace.  Positioned between the National Defense Command Centers in Colorado Springs, Buckley Air Force Base in the eastern metro area and several renowned research universities, South Metro Denver continues to focus on attracting premier aerospace companies.  

United Launch Alliance (ULA), a new company formed when Lockheed Martin and Boeing Corporation merged their rocketry divisions, chose South Metro Denver for their corporate headquarters and engineering operations and became members of SEBP shortly after.  Raytheon and Merrick & Company are two other internationally renowned aerospace firms represented in the area and both help make Colorado an epicenter of aerospace technology growth.

The Colorado Space Coalition (CSC) is an organization of industry stakeholders working together to make Colorado a center for excellence in space exploration and aerospace innovation.  Military, academic, research and educational leaders are members of the Coalition and the CSC Directory includes over 300 aerospace companies and suppliers in the State.

Five key reasons aerospace firms choose to locate to the region include: the ability to recruit and retain qualified employees; proximity to vendors and customers; low to moderate cost of doing business; pro-business state and local governments; and close proximity to colleges and universities.

Colorado has three institutions that are members of the Universities Space Research Association.  They are the University of Colorado at Boulder, the Colorado School of Mines, and the University of Denver.  All three institutions have graduate programs in space sciences and/or engineering.

Denver – Aurora MSA Occupational Salaries 2007*
Aerospace Engineers  - $88,180
Computer Software Engineers, Systems software - $90,550
Computer and Mathematical occupations - $77,300
Electronics Engineers, except computers - $84,250

*Mean annual salary is for the 10 county Denver – Aurora Metropolitan Statistical Area (MSA)

Suggested web sites:
www.unitedlaunchalliance.com
www.raytheon.com
www.ch2mhill.com
www.merrick.com
www.spacecolorado.org
www.du.edu
www.mines.edu
www.colorado.edu

For more information please contact Lynn Myers at 303-531-8385