Uncertainty Surrounding Former StorageTech Site Illustrates the Drawbacks of Relying on Out of Region Firms for Economic Development

The redevelopment of the former Storage Technology Site in Louisville into a training and R&D facility for ConocoPhillips was going to provide an economic boost to the "Renewable Range" cluster of green energy firms in the Denver region and to the broader economy.  

However, recent uncertainty over the future of the site illustrates the drawbacks of not having homegrown, in-region headquartered firms driving economic development decisions.  When Houston-based ConocoPhillips announced a split into two separate publicly traded companies, ConocoPhillips, an upstream exploration and production energy company and Phillips 66 a downstream consumer-facing refining, marketing and midstream business, the plans for the Louisville campus came into question.  Future decisions will be made by the leadership of Phillips 66 and may or may not reflect the previous vision espoused by the legacy ConocoPhillips leadership.   When land use decisions are made by companies with distant, out of state headquarters, there is an exposure to changes in strategic and leadership direction which can imp3de local progress.

Here is to hoping this site still gets redeveloped by Phillips 66 in a way  that enhances the regional green energy cluster and boosts the overall economy in the Metro Denver area.

Louisville and ConocoPhillips Working Together on Campus Planning

The Daily Camera reported that the Louisville Planning Commission and ConocoPhillips seem to be having a productive working relationship in planning the company's proposed research and training campus at the former StorageTek site off U.S. 36.

This project is one of the most important economic development efforts underway in the Denver Region and is critical to the growth of the region's sustainable energy cluster.

For more information about this project see the ConocoPhillips web site and these previous blog entries.

Image above from ConocoPhillips web site.

Milstead Reassesses the ConocoPhillips Property Acquisition

Thoughtful Rocky business writer David Milstead wrote a column on August 5th reassessing the importance of the ConocoPhillips acquisition of the former Storage Technology HQ site in Louisville.

In an earlier column, written right after the announcement, Mr. Milstead had downplayed the significance of the deal.

See here for the blog entry in A View of the Rockies discussing the deal.