Colorado Economic Development Commission swings for a manufacturing grand slam

Not long after it received a $10.9 million incentive award from the state Thursday morning, Morgan Mining Co. announced it would build an equipment and services support hub for the mining industry in Grand Junction employing 893 people, potentially making it one of the largest private sector employers on the Western Slope outside the health care industry.

“We decided that creating a mining-focused hub in Mesa County provided the best economic and growth opportunities for Morgan,” said Justin Morgan, president of Morgan Mining, in a statement.

And some other big announcements may not be far behind. ProCaps Laboratories, a Nevada maker of nutritional supplements, is looking at Jefferson County for a manufacturing facility that could employ 564 people.

A quantum computing company with 250 employees in Broomfield would like to add 195 more there as it works on breakthroughs in the emerging tech field.

Colorado Springs is under consideration for 107 jobs from a Swiss startup looking to manufacture high-speed transportation equipment, and 145 jobs from a German industrial giant looking to produce and distribute more of its polymer products within the U.S.

In one of its busiest award rounds since October 2015, the Colorado Economic Development Commission on Thursday morning approved eight Job Growth Incentive Tax credit awards worth $24.8 million tied to creating 2,009 new jobs in the state over an eight-year window.

To obtain the full award, companies must add all the jobs pledged. Beyond that, they must have enough income to write off against the tax credits they receive.

Morgan Mining is looking to hire engineers, electricians, and finance workers, at an average annual wage of $92,447, to support various mining operations in the region. The company employs 206 workers, including 196 in Colorado, which beat out Tennessee for the support hub.

The commission agreed to provide up to $10.9 million in state tax credits, or $12,196 per job.

ProCaps Laboratories is a maker of hundreds of different nutritional supplements under the ProCaps name based in Henderson, Nev. It has about 400 employees, none in Colorado, and is weighing a new manufacturing plant in either Jefferson County or Arizona.

The company expects to hire 564 workers — including corporate executives, engineers and facility technicians — earning an average annual wage of $80,450. The commission provided $5.1 million in tax credits, which works out to $9,089 per job. While not necessarily advanced manufacturing, ProCaps could help revive the state’s reputation in the health-food segment, where it has long been a leader.

Project Q-Chips, the code name for the quantum computing firm, received an award of $4.3 million in return for adding 195 jobs, which works out to $22,246 per hire. The state extended a more generous award because of the higher annual wage of $145,990 per employee, and its focus on quantum computing, an emerging field the state has prioritized.

Of the company’s 538 employees, 250 are in Broomfield. That head count aligns with Broomfield-based Quantinuum, which was created from the merger of Honeywell Quantum Solutions and Cambridge Quantum Computing.

Two European companies are interested in setting up manufacturing plants in the Colorado Springs area. A German conglomerate with 20,000 employees is looking to set up a polymer plant in El Paso County that would employ 145 workers at an average annual wage of $65,569. It received $1.9 million in tax credits.

Project Chocolate, a maker of high-speed transportation equipment, received an award of $918,000 in tax credits in return for creating 107 new jobs. Those jobs would pay $67,952 a year on average.