Word is traveling around Friday morning that Colorado was picked to be an official U.S. Tech Hub, a designation that includes a bit of federal funding and the promise of greater recognition for an ecosystem that has the potential to become a Silicon Valley of quantum technology.
The designation was one of 20 awarded by the U.S. Department of Commerce’s Regional Technology and Innovation Hubs program, enacted as part of the bipartisan CHIPS and Science Act of 2022. The goal is to invest in American-built innovation and spread the commercialization and workforce beyond the two coasts. There were 192 applications in 10 key technologies submitted, including at least three others from Colorado. The full list of winners isn’t expected to be released until Monday.
“I am over the moon at this opportunity for our state,” said Wendy Lea, when reached Friday morning after learning that Colorado scored one of the 20. Lea is an entrepreneur who helped organize a private effort called TechHubNow! to narrow down proposals.
Quantum, which refers to the science of probabilities down to the atom that can speed up complex computer calculations, got attention early on as a technology that would fit the Tech Hubs program. Lea’s group settled on quantum technology and advanced energy, which were endorsed by Gov. Jared Polis and the state’s Office of Economic Development and International Trade.
“It wasn’t just like, ‘quantum is cool,’” Lea said in an earlier interview. “It turns out, we are in the top three. … We don’t have the most research. But this is not about research. This is about accelerating commercialization and startups. This is an industry-led opportunity.”
A group formed called Elevate Quantum, a consortium of private quantum companies, investors, startups and universities like University of Colorado and Colorado School of Mines. At least three Boulder-area companies are building their own quantum computers in a race to offer more qubits, akin to computer data. The quantum industry is projected to bring $3 billion in funding to Colorado over the next decade plus provide jobs for 30,000 future workers who don’t necessarily need Ph.D.s.
Corban Tillemann-Dick, CEO of Maybell Quantum, monitors the temperature of a dilution refrigerator that houses a quantum computer Oct. 19, 2023, in Denver. Quantum computers require specific environmental conditions, like a base temperature of 10 Millikelvin, equivalent to nearly -450 degrees Fahrenheit, to operate. (Olivia Sun, The Colorado Sun via Report for America)
Out of the effort, Corban Tillemann-Dick, CEO of Maybell Quantum in Denver, became the ad hoc spokesman for quantum. His company builds very cold fridges that get down to near absolute zero — approximately minus 459 Fahrenheit — so that quantum computers can effectively operate.
“We have a thriving ecosystem of quantum companies that range from startups in the sensor space that are deploying technologies to sense methane plumes in fracking sites to companies like Maybell or Vescent or Meadowlark (Optics) or Octave (Photonics), who are building the kind of picks and shovels for the quantum gold rush that is enabling the hardware that these folk need,” Tillemann-Dick said. There’s also “some of the largest and most important qubit builders, the ones looking forward to five, 10, 20 years down the road when quantum is the defining technology of the next century.”
Details of the 20 winners are expected to be released by the U.S. Economic Development Administration. Planning grants of up to $500,000 were also available but haven’t been announced either. Those designated a Tech Hub will be able to apply for “implementation” grants of $50 million to $75 million through the Commerce department program.
“To be chosen is unbelievably exciting,” Sen. John Hickenlooper said. “And the key here is to recognize that Colorado already is a leader in a lot of these things. … I think these designations, a tech hub, especially when you’re talking about things like quantum … have the potential to make Colorado 20 years from now the center of quantum.”
Some looked at the Tech Hub effort as a way to get cities and regions nationwide to identify their potential ecosystem and start supporting its growth, even if they didn’t get the official designation.
Mark Muro, a senior fellow at nonprofit think tank Brookings Institution who has followed the process, shared earlier, they “likely have assembled a compelling strategy that will stand them in good stead and give them a plan going forward and maybe even be a target for funding from other sources, whether it’s philanthropy or the private sector.”
The other proposals from Colorado included the Colorado CleanRange Consortium, which aimed to commercialize new products and services within the clean energy sector, and a cybersecurity-focused effort out of Grand Junction to better manage the Colorado River. An advanced manufacturing proposal ended up combining with an aerospace team in Colorado Springs and applied through Wyoming, according to the organizers of the application.
This is a developing story and will be updated as more information is available.
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