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History

Igniting the innovation economy

Northern Colorado has an enormous resource that is highly under utilized: highly educated, highly skilled technical and business professionals. 

In the wake of the tech downturn of the early 2000s and the ongoing shifts in the manufacturing industry, more than 5,500 skilled tech workers have been displaced in Larimer County.  Add the thousands of graduates from the regions universities and the many newly unemployed workers in Northern Colorado and you have an army of people hungry for jobs that pay well and put families on the path to prosperity.

Now, more than ever before, innovation drives the Northern Colorado economy.  From small startup companies to global technology leaders, the regional economy is increasingly fueled by work that pushes science and technology to new levels-and opens up new jobs for area residents.

Our winning history of connecting technology startups to business critical resources began in 1998 as the Fort Collins Technology Incubator (FCTI), sponsored by leading regional public and private institutions such as; the City of Fort Collins, Colorado State University (CSU), CSU Ventures and the Northern Colorado Economic Development Corporation (NCEDC).

In 2007, recognizing that innovation-driven startup companies have the potential to create hundreds of primary jobs and thousands of related service and retail jobs in Northern Colorado, the FCTI partnered with Larimer County and the Cities of Loveland and Greeley to launch the Rocky Mountain Innovation Initiative, RMI^2.

Today, RMI ² has an expanded mission and regional focus enabling the success and growth of high-impact regional innovation startups in the areas of; clean energy, bioscience, information technology and Colorado State University research. 

RMI² has assisted in the creation of 27 companies.  These local startups have created 133 primary jobs and raised $54 million in capital.  In 2008, the average salary for those jobs was $71,000, compared to the Larimer County average of $36,000.

Along the way, we have brought people together in industry cluster initiatives, advisory groups, educational seminars and networking events where business concepts and connections have produced growth and moved ideas into real world products and solutions.

In 2010, RMI² will expand operations by increasing the number of companies supported and relocate into a new, state-of-the-art, Gold LEED certified research and business campus located in Fort Collins, Colorado.