At this month’s Partnership Meeting, we heard from two of the companies who expanded their operations further into the Denver South region in 2020: Sierra Nevada Corporation and DAT Freight & Analytics. Below are just a few of the highlights from the meeting, be sure to check out the video for the full discussion.
Denver South Transportation Board Chair and Lone Tree mayor Jackie Millet kicked off the morning and seamlessly emceed the meeting with insightful introductions and grounding elements into Denver South impacts.
We then heard from Claude Pumilia, President and CEO, DAT Freight & Analytics, who recently moved into their second headquarters at the 50 Fifty building in the Denver Tech Center. This fast-growing company is consistently revolutionizing the way their industry works by maximizing the efficiency of freight logistics. When analyzing potential locations throughout the county for its new HQ2, Denver came out ahead due to the rich existing talent pool, central geography with easy access to both coasts, international connectivity by way of Denver International Airport, a highly educated population and overall quality of life. The company plans to hire aggressively in the next few years, from 25 employees currently to about 200 in a few years. Who wouldn’t want to join? They were #26 on Built in Colorado’s Best Places to Work in 2021.
Up next was Robert Horky, Vice President of Strategy, Sierra Nevada Corporation. The company is largely known outside of the aerospace industry for developing the new Dream Chaser space vehicle, partially built out of Centennial Airport with 10 hangers and 300 technicians. SNC has a significant and growing presence in Denver South with multiple warehouses, offices and manufacturing locations across the region. Plus, they are investing in the Meridian International Business Center, taking over the former Western Union campus, with the first wave of employees moving in at the end of this month! This campus will allow for a more streamlined workforce, lead to enhanced collaboration and innovation, plus loads of classified space, opening the company up to new customers and marketplaces. Even during the COVID health emergency, SNC continues to hire, hiring more than 300 people in the last year with plans for upwards of 900 more employees in the front range region with a focus on various engineers, program management, logistics, support employees, and multiple other positions.
During a robust Q & A session, Denver South CEO, Tom Brook, fielded questions from the audience touching on topics from workforce to politics. A few highlights included the attributes of Colorado and the Denver South region that led them to expand here:
- The entrepreneurial ecosystem and culture of technological innovation, adding to the attractiveness of the area.
- The workforce pipeline, including new graduates specifically from School of Mines and CU Boulder. The robust talent pool currently here and the desirability of Colorado as an ongoing draw for recruiting new workforce to the state.
- Public transportation and infrastructure in the region, enhancing the quality of life and ease of commuting.
We welcome these two companies to the region, thank them for their time and perspectives, and we look forward to seeing their innovative work for years to come.
