Today, the Global Business Division of the Colorado Office of Economic Development and International Trade (OEDIT) announced the recipients of the Collaborative Infrastructure Grant, an Advanced Industries Accelerator Program that helps Colorado-based teams of technology businesses and nonprofits fill infrastructure gaps in the advanced industries. This year’s recipients will develop an advanced manufacturing hub to strengthen the local workforce and supply chains; add 1.4M square feet of new wet lab space for bioscience and clean tech startups; support adult bone marrow stem cell collection to benefit the treatment of musculoskeletal injury and disease; and add a state-of-the-art facility to evaluate outdoor product performance and production (full awardee list below).
“The Advanced Industries Accelerator Program is designed to benefit all aspects of innovation in Colorado,” said Rama Haris, Senior Manager for OEDIT’s Advanced Industries Program. “We were pleased to see that this year’s applications for the Collaborative Infrastructure Grant represented that full spectrum, from manufacturing to health and wellness to outdoor recreation, and will fill infrastructure needs that benefit Coloradans and the nation.”
To be eligible, projects must have multiple collaborative public-private partners, broad impacts across one or more advanced industries, and support capability growth within the identified industries through research, technology development, and manufacturing. The AIA Program received five applications for this grant opportunity. Applications were reviewed by a multi-disciplinary committee of business, technical and financial experts across the advanced industries. Final recommendations were approved by the Economic Development Commission on June 16, 2022.
Awardees
Metropolitan State University of Denver, $135,000: The world events of the last two years have illustrated the need for the US to more rapidly adopt, deploy, and support advanced manufacturing to strengthen the local workforce and supply chains. Metropolitan State University of Denver is developing a hub of advanced manufacturing innovation with a world-class Industry 4.0 Center of Excellence on the downtown Denver Auraria Campus. This physical lab will educate the manufacturing workforce and be accessible to local manufacturers. The center will include office space, lab space, and demonstration facilities.
Rocky Mountain Innosphere, $1,500,000: A recent report identified that the Denver and Boulder Metropolitan Statistical Area lacks 1.4M square feet of wet labs to support current and near-term needs. Rocky Mountain Innosphere, as part of the Colorado Build Back Better Coalition, is developing wet lab space for bioscience and clean tech startups. The wet lab space will be developed by renovating a 31,000 square foot building at the historic National Western Center and will provide for a startup’s progression from R&D to early scale-up.
Steadman Philippon Research Institute, $500,000: Musculoskeletal injury and disease are the most disabling and costly conditions suffered by Americans. Of the many adult stem cell types potentially applicable for treating musculoskeletal disorders, bone marrow stem cells (BMSCs) from bone marrow aspirate concentrate (BMAC) are the most clinically translatable. The Steadman Philippon Research Institute in Vail, Colo. is developing a BMAC harvesting, banking, and delivery service that facilitates multiple injections from a single bone marrow harvest without expansion or significant manipulation of the cells.
University of Colorado Denver, $250,000: Advanced manufacturing capabilities are essential to develop new products, processes, and services across a range of industries, including the outdoor recreation industry. Outdoor recreation powers a vast economic engine that creates billions in spending and millions of jobs. The University of Colorado Denver in partnership with Outside Inc. is building the Gear Innovation Lab, a facility with state-of-the-art testing equipment to evaluate outdoor product performance and production. The standardized lab testing will be supported by Outside’s team of expert editors and field testers to provide a holistic technical, consumer, and community assessment and reporting of outdoor gear.