I didn’t expect this new opportunity to change the trajectory of my work in Colorado, but it did. Spending months inside the federal process — co-leading the subcommittee tasked with shaping the $10 billion Regional Innovation Hub program — gave me something I couldn’t have gotten any other way: a deep understanding of the Department of Commerce’s strategy behind the CHIPS & Science Act, the role the EDA would play in setting regional conditions to accelerate the commercialization of advanced technologies, and a growing conviction that Colorado had a solid shot at winning.
I came back to Colorado knowing two things. First, that this was a major opportunity for our state. Second, that someone needed to get us organized to pursue it.
Launching TechHubNow! in Colorado
In April 2023, TechHubNow! was launched with JB Holston, Brooks Johnson, and Eve Lieberman. From the start, this was a public-private effort. Governor Polis and OEDIT supported the launch of TechHubNow! as a statewide initiative to accelerate collaboration, highlight Colorado’s strengths as a tech hub, and build and submit highly competitive applications for federal designation.
The momentum was immediate. In April, we met with Alejandra Castillo, Assistant Secretary of Commerce of the EDA — joined by Angela Martinez, Regional Director of the U.S. Department of Commerce, and Trent Thompson, Economic Development Representative for Colorado — to formally announce Colorado’s intention to seek Tech Hub Designation. Representing Colorado were Governor Polis, Eve Lieberman, Executive Director of OEDIT, and community leaders from across the state. We weren’t just applying; we were signaling that Colorado was serious.
Behind the scenes, we ran a rigorous, inclusive process that engaged six technology teams from across the state, brought in Boston Consulting Group for market analysis, and formed an expert advisory committee to evaluate each team against the EDA’s own criteria. In August, Governor Polis and OEDIT announced the two proposals that had earned Colorado’s full support: the Colorado Cleanrange Consortium and Elevate Quantum.
Our goal from the beginning was clear: elevate Colorado’s status as a national innovation leader and position our state as a premier, inclusive global tech hub driving wide-scale opportunities for sustainable, tech-related careers across the state.
For a detailed breakdown of how we ran that process, see A Community-Driven Blueprint for Federal Grant Success.
The Results
On October 23, 2023, Elevate Quantum received a Quantum Tech Hub designation from the EDA — one of 31 regions selected nationally and one of only two quantum designees in the country.
On July 2, 2024, Elevate Quantum received $40.5 million in federal investment from the EDA’s Regional Technology and Innovation Hubs Program. That award unlocked an additional $74.4 million in commitments from the States of Colorado and New Mexico, and catalyzed more than $1 billion in private capital and industry collaborations.
The ripple effects extended beyond Elevate Quantum. Of the six teams that went through TechHubNow!’s process, three others secured state funding to launch their own technology ecosystems.
The Connective Work is the Work
What stays with me most about TechHubNow! isn’t the outcome; it’s what the outcome revealed about how ecosystems actually change.
Colorado had the technology, the institutions, and the talent long before TechHubNow! existed. What was missing was a structured moment for the right people to find each other, pressure-test their ideas, and commit to something together. That’s what TechHubNow! created. And once that coalition was built on an honest assessment of the opportunity, the federal process recognized it.
I’ve spent more than a decade working at the intersection of public and private sectors, and the lesson I keep relearning is this: the connective work is the work. Not the grant writing, not the strategy decks. The relationships, the process, and the willingness to hold both with discipline. When you get that right, the builders show up and get what they need to start and scale.