by Michelle Z. Askeland
A couple years ago, the Colorado
Springs Chamber & EDC began exam-
ining the cybersecurity industry and
quickly identified it as a major empha-
sis area for the future. A city vision
was formed for Colorado Springs to
become a cybersecurity capital within
the United States.
This vision rapidly accelerated in
2016 with the announcement of three
major projects. The National Cyberse-
curity Center, a nonprofit organization
with a mission to provide collabora-
tive cybersecurity response services
through education, training and
research, inspired by Gov. John Hicken-
looper, selected Colorado Springs for
its home. Plans for the U.S. Northern
Command/NORAD Joint Cyber Center
were announced; it will be an Air Force
asset that will focus on cybersecurity
challenges. And the Catalyst Cam-
pus, a local, private, industry-focused
technology campus announced plans
to build a cyberlab to help small and
midsize technology companies.
“Between these three pieces, you
have one that’s receiving state funding
and support, one that’s receiving fed-
eral dollars through the Air Force and
one that’s privately funded,” said Andy
Merritt, the chamber’s chief defense
industry officer. “So you’ve got very
different and distinct, but also very
complementary, activities that all real-
ly started coming into place last year.”
While those outside of the industry
are still grappling with what cyberse-
curity entails, those in the industry
already have put Colorado Springs on
the map. The chamber hosted several
U.S. and international cybersecurity
companies interested in relocating
last year and Merritt expects interest
to continue to grow. He’s also seeing
the established and startup companies
already located in the city growing and
adding significant numbers of new
employees.
In some ways, cybersecurity is
a natural outgrowth of the strong
information technology industry
already present in Colorado Springs.
“There’s been a lot of talent and
companies here that have made
those kinds of shifts into that
cybersecurity realm,” said Merritt.
Going hand in hand with that IT
strength is Colorado Springs’ repu-
tation for strong communications
connectivity.
The city’s prevalent military and
Department of Defense presence
helps as well. For example, the Air
Please see Page 26Colorado Springs is looking to the cybersecurity industry to boost office activity.
March 2017 Colorado Springs fosters the cybersecurity industryINSIDE
Denver highlight PAGE 12 Office well-being PAGE 20 TOD smart cities PAGE 19 In order to meet future demand, downtown needs more available large-sized spaces. Occupant-first design takes center stage in many ways at several new office projects. Energy efficiencies and connectivity play crucial roles at Panasonic’s new office.