Western Colorado Business Booms

Riverfront at Las Colonias Park — Butterfly Lake. Photos courtesy of Grand Junction Economic Partnership

On Monday, January 11, 2021, Grand Junction-based technology start up ProStar went public, offering shares on the Venture Exchange of the Toronto Stock Exchange (trading symbol: MAPS). With this, ProStar became the first publicly-traded company in Western Colorado.

A rising force among the fast-growing Western Slope technology community, ProStar designs and provides precision mapping software for locating underground utilities.

“Every minute of every working day, a utility line or pipeline is hit during construction,” explains company founder Page Tucker, adding that the cost of just the reported damage is over $30 billion annually. “When you hit a pipeline on a construction project, bad things happen. There are huge environmental concerns and the project gets shut down.”

With a background in geographic information services and data management, Tucker wanted to create a smart way to avoid these damages. In 2008, after selling his first company, he set to work on what would become PointMan®, ProStar’s patented mobile mapping application that captures, records and displays the location of underground utilities.

ProStar launched in 2014 and developed a North American client base that includes Fortune 500 companies and government agencies. Discussions with companies outside the U.S. are underway and, closer to home, ProStar’s mapping platform is mandated by the Colorado Department of Transportation.

WHY GRAND JUNCTION?

Tucker moved to Western Colorado in 2007 to live near his parents, who relocated to Grand Junction in the mid-1980s.

“Anytime you start a new company, there is a greater than 80% chance that it will fail. I figured I might as well spend some quality time with my parents,” he laughs.

What he found, however, was tremendous quality of life and a state and community willing to support him in his new venture. While building ProStar, Tucker received two development grants from the Colorado Office of Economic Development and International Trade. ProStar was also the first company to qualify under the Colorado Rural Jump Start program, which offers tax relief to new companies and their employees in designated rural areas.

Robin Brown, executive director of the Grand Junction Economic Partnership (GJEP), works closely with Tucker and other companies in Mesa County.

Dominic & Felicia Jones, owners of CERTEK

Mike Sneddon, owner of SG Aerospace

Kate and Bill McDonald, owners of Phoenix Haus

A technician with MRP, a bike parts manufacturer

“To qualify for Rural Jump Start, a business has to do something unique that doesn’t compete with other Colorado businesses. The business must also create a certain number of new jobs that pay at or above the average annual wage for our area,” Brown explains.

Because companies must be unique, many of them are tech startups. Thus far, 20 Mesa County companies have qualified for Rural Jump Start, which was renewed by the legislature in 2020.

HIGHER QUALITY OF LIFE

ProStar has a record of firsts. In addition to being the first local company to go public and the first company to qualify for Rural Jump Start support, ProStar also set up the first paid internship program at Colorado Mesa University (CMU) with the computer science department. The company also uses a statewide program called Careerwise to create internships for local high school students.

While some ProStar employees have been drawn from the highest levels of corporate America, a good number of them began as interns and were hired after graduation from CMU or were already living in the Grand Valley.

“Our experience proves that we have outstanding resources locally,” says Tucker. “Some of the best people I could have recruited already live here because of the quality of life.”

The overall economic health of Mesa County is important to Tucker. “By going public, we get to be a trailblazer for our community and other entrepreneurs who live in the valley or are looking to relocate here. ProStar demonstrates that small companies in rural areas can thrive and compete globally.”

The hydroponics system at Rooted Gypsy Farms.

THE COVID-19 EFFECT

While the move to rural areas was underway prior to COVID-19, Brown explains that the pandemic has dramatically increased interest in the Grand Junction area.

“It’s been a natural shift,” she explains, with people looking for a “nicer” place to live with the Colorado lifestyle they desire.

Recent local investment in the community, including schools, public safety, air service and parks, has made Grand Junction more viable and competitive, while CMU is a natural fit for companies seeking employees skilled in computer science and cyber security.

“We want companies that want to be here,” explains Brown, noting that the rapid shift to virtual, remote working plays to the strengths of Western Colorado. “Rural areas can create happier employees who are more productive, spend less time commuting and more time enjoying themselves.”

As she puts it, “Quality of life is workforce stabilization.”

Nearby, Montrose County is seeing similar forces at work, especially with the pandemic.

“People are looking to relocate to less metropolitan areas where they can have all the amenities they want, but feel less threatened by the pressures of the world,” explains Sandy Head, executive director of the Montrose Economic Development Corporation.

Geyser Systems makes one-gallon backpacking showers that are sold at REI. The company recently moved to Montrose after launching from the Gunnison ICELab, a coworking space and business incubator operated by Gunnison Crested Butte Economic Development.

Montrose is also celebrating the opening of the Colorado Outdoor Park, a multi-use, 160- acre business park adjacent to the Uncompahgre River, with new and existing businesses looking to move to the park in 2021, according to Head.

BUSINESS IS BOOMING

ProStar and Geyser Systems are far from the only companies thriving in Western Colorado.

Known as an outdoor adventure hub, it’s no surprise that companies like RockyMounts and QuikRStuff (both bike rack manufacturers), Kappius Components (bicycle rims, wheels and tires) and Canfield Bikes call Mesa County home.

Canfield Bikes, a direct-to-consumer performance mountain bike company, relocated to Fruita in 2019 after stints in Utah, Wyoming and Washington. In addition to support and encouragement from the town of Fruita and GJEP, geography played a big part in the company’s decision to relocate.

“We were familiar with the area and the trails,” explains company representative Michelle Good, “and Western Colorado is centrally-located, ideal for shipping to our customers.”

Aspen Technology Group has a different story, although one also tied directly to bike trails and quality of life. Aspen Technology Group is a cloud consulting company specializing in call center technology. Before moving to Grand Junction, managing partner Charlie Conaway looked at other locations in Colorado and the West.

He credits the area’s trails, proximity to major mountain towns and resorts, and overall quality of life as major draws.

Still, he recognizes that Western Colorado may not be for everyone. Consequently, his company focuses on recruiting and finding people who already know they want to be here.

“The people we find are smart, motivated and ready to grow their experience,” Conaway explains. “They are looking to do outdoor stuff and have a good job.”

Creating the right balance between quality of life and quality of work is the challenge facing employers and Western Colorado communities moving forward.

With employees increasingly being able to work from the places in which they play, by all indications, business in Western Colorado is poised to keep on booming.

Originally published in the Spring 2021 issue