The following content is adapted from an article by Cassidy Ritter, originally published in Denver Business Journal.

Earlier this year, French space equipment manufacturer Sodern announced it would expand to the U.S. After considering locations in Alabama, California and Texas, Sodern chose to open its first U.S. facility in Denver South, a rapidly growing business corridor south of Denver that runs along Interstate 25 and the light rail line from Interstate 225 south to the RidgeGate development and E-470.

“Having lived in Colorado for over 25 years, I am personally convinced it is the ideal location to open our local manufacturing operations,” Tiphaine Louradour, CEO of Sodern America, said in a statement about the company’s new 14,000-square-foot facility coming to Englewood.

Denver South is also home to many of Sodern’s customers and is an area recognized as one of the most dynamic hubs of the U.S. space industry, the company said in January.

The region is made up of 200 aerospace and aviation companies which collectively employ over 10,000 people. Companies in the sector include Boom Supersonic, United Launch Alliance, True Anomaly, York Space, Sierra Space and iSpace.

But aviation and aerospace businesses aren’t the only ones that call Denver South home.

“The business ecosystem here [makes up] 9% of the state’s economy. We have 220,000 employees, 19,000 businesses, over 40 million square feet of commercial office space [and] a growing amount of industrial space,” said David Worley, president and CEO at economic development agency Denver South. “It’s a nice confluence of different industry segments with some great pillar organizations that attract other smaller businesses around them.”

Denver South recently caught the attention of CitroTech Inc., an environmentally safe fire solutions provider. The company (NYSE: CITR) announced in March it will relocate its corporate headquarters from California to Greenwood Village.

In addition to being located near other high-growth, mission-driven companies, CitroTech said it was drawn to Denver South because the area offers access to a “deep, top-tier talent pool, robust global transportation options and state-of-the-art R&D infrastructure.”

“Denver South isn’t just where we’re locating our headquarters. It’s a launchpad for forming powerful global partnerships, where innovation and impact reinforce each other,” CEO of CitroTech Wes Bolsen said. “The region’s infrastructure, talent and connectivity give us the fuel to advance product development and deploy safer wildfire defense solutions.”

Like Sodern and CitroTech, several other industry leaders and national and international companies are drawn to Denver South’s business ecosystem, talent pool and lifestyle offerings.

“When you’re down in this area, it’s easy to see how dynamic it is,” Worley said. “But I think for folks who aren’t here every day, I think they end up often missing that this really is the ballast of the business region, the center point of the Front Range and a sleeping giant in terms of the business influence of the region.”

Denver South, which includes over 20 business parks, including the Denver Tech Center, has a large pool of aerospace, IT, financial service and engineering firms.

“We’re a corridor that makes complex things,” Worley said. “We also have an array of business services that surround that. … That’s really, I think, what is unique about the area and why companies really love it here.”

Businesses with an office or headquarters in the area include Charles Schwab, Western Union, Kiewit, Lockheed Space, Sierra Nevada Corp., Mikron, Pulte Homes, Empower Retirement, Cochlear Americas, Fidelity Investments, Merrick & Co., Galloway, Burns & McDonnell, Pax 8 and Black & Veatch, among others.

“When you’ve got one of the big powerhouses here, it attracts others. The other companies want to be in the region to share in the talent pool, to share in the excitement, and it just fuels the overall business ecosystem,” said Julie Nathan, director of business engagement at Denver South.

Interested in bringing your business to Denver South? See what the region has to offer.

This article is adapted from reporting by Cassidy Ritter for the Denver Business Journal. Read the full article in Denver Business Journal.