Brainy city prepares for Sundance closeup
BOULDER — When the U.S. Department of Commerce in 2023 dubbed Colorado an official “TechHub” for the advancement of quantum technologies, it helped fuel a boom in business and research in Boulder.
And yet the biggest news this year for the scenic city at the foot of the Flatirons came from the entertainment industry. Leaders of the Sundance Film Festival decided in March to move the world-renowned event from Utah to Boulder, meaning Colorado will be the epicenter of the movie universe for a week and half each winter for a decade beginning in 2027.
Not that brains will take a backseat to beauty, however. Thanks to a $20 million grant from the National Science Foundation, the University of Colorado Boulder will build the National Quantum Nanofab, described by the school as the “quantum machine shop of the 21st century.” Infleqtion, the trade name for Boulder-based ColdQuanta Inc., raised about $10.8 million from investors for its work in the field.
Boulder has one of the nation’s highest percentages of residents with college degrees. Business is lured by proximity to several federal laboratories and CU-Boulder, which tops the nation in NASA research funding. CU Boulder, the Rocky Mountain region’s largest and most-comprehensive campus, offers 3,400 courses, boasts several Nobel laureates and works extensively with private businesses for technology transfer. Its Leeds School of Business was included on a recent list of the top 50 best value undergraduate business schools in the country compiled by Value Colleges.
Workers in the area continue to rank as the best-paid in the state, and Boulder ranks in the top 10 in the nation for number of patents issued.”
A trio of Boulder startup scene veterans is reviving the local Techstars accelerator program, which was discontinued in late 2024 after a decision by the organization’s previous leaders to move Techstars headquarters from Boulder to New York.
Boulder’s tough regulations and median home price topping $1 million have posed challenges that have led some companies and residents to relocate eastward into Boulder and Weld counties, but the city’s unique setting still attracts people to work in its high concentration of companies in the aerospace, bioscience, data-storage and software industries.
Workers in the area continue to rank as the best-paid in the state, and Boulder ranks in the top 10 in the nation for number of patents issued. It’s a center for alternative- and renewable-energy research, manufacturers of natural and organic products, and the nation’s outdoor industry.
Nevada-based ALLO Fiber will pay $1.5 million upfront to lease a portion of the city’s fiber-backbone infrastructure, aiming to expand the network to provide high-speed internet to 80% of Boulder by 2028 and 97% by 2030.
With 45,000 acres of open space, more than 150 miles of trails and more than 300 days of sunshine a year, Boulder offers scenic beauty and an ideal place to live, work and play.
Live concerts are held at Chautauqua Auditorium as well as CU’s Macky Auditorium, Coors Event Center and Folsom Field.
Boulder’s historic downtown features the 45-year-old Pearl Street Mall, and more retail, restaurants and entertainment venues can be found surrounding the Twenty Ninth Street retail district. Frasca Food and Wine won the 2025 James Beard award as the nation’s most outstanding restaurant, and the Moxy Boulder and Limelight Hotel Boulder help provide lodging for tourists, sports fans and researchers.
This spring, Visit Boulder, with cooperation from leaders in the city’s hotel industry, formed the Boulder Lodging Business Assessment Area to raise money that will be used to help market and support the local hospitality sector. Guests at Boulder hotels who stay fewer than 30 days will pay a new 2% tax that Visit Boulder expects will generate $2.1 million in its first year.
