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Colorado Tech Summit touts state as job ‘magnet’

The fourth annual Colorado Technology Summit attracted roughly 3,000 attendees at the Colorado Convention Center on Friday.

By The Denver Post

Dozens also watched at locations in Pueblo and Grand Junction connected to the Denver event by a live video and audio feed.

Gov. Bill Owens said Colorado can add tech jobs with the industry’s growth and through California companies looking to expand elsewhere. "We have a great case to make that we’re a magnet for those jobs, and we are making that case, literally, every day," he said.

Sun Microsystems chief executive Scott McNealy gave the summit’s keynote speech.

"If your strategy is not controversial, you have very little chance of making money," McNealy told the audience. "If it’s not controversial, everyone is doing it. If everyone is doing it, it’s a commodity. The trick is to be controversial and right."

http://www.denverpost.com/Stories/0,1413,36~33~1629636,00.html

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Tech leaders look optimistic

Summit features talks about the industry’s state

By Alicia Wallace, Camera Business Writer

DENVER — Promise and opportunity. Those were the words used to describe Colorado’s state of technology at the Colorado Technology Summit on Friday.

Gov. Bill Owens and industry leaders spoke optimistically about job growth and industry expansion.

John Hansen, the state’s newly appointed director of technology, said Colorado has sustained itself through the aftereffects of the bubble burst and is at the threshold of being an industry leader.

"Last year, I was very cautious about what was going on with the technology sector," said Hansen in an interview with the Daily Camera. "Now, I’m pretty optimistic that in 12 to 18 months, those who want tech jobs can get them."

About 3,000 people attended the annual event at the Colorado Convention Center. While some participated in the morning workshops on various fields ranging from biotechnology to investment, others browsed the vendors in the exposition hall, where companies such as Level 3, Avaya and Peoplesoft set up booths.

But in both the expo hall and the panel discussion, questions about employment and job security reigned.

The panel consisted of seven of the state’s industry executives, plus a video-conference interaction with members of the field in Grand Junction and Pueblo.

Teresa Taylor, executive vice president of Qwest Communications, said the customer care and service fields are seeing the biggest boom. Taylor said most of Qwest’s 500 openings are in those areas.

But as for the state’s retention of other technological jobs, Taylor said she sees improvement.

"You probably all had a friend who left Colorado to take a job somewhere else, and I think that’s stopped," Taylor said. "I feel like it’s bottomed out. Things are flattening out."

She said if the economy continues to improve, the lifestyle and climate of the state are its biggest assets for attracting and keeping future employees.

Mark Roellig, vice president of Louisville-based Storage Technology Corp., said offering internships and heavily recruiting at universities would generate a young and skilled workforce.

To Scott McNealy, the keynote speaker and Sun Microsystems chairman, president and chief executive officer, innovation is the key to success.

McNealy, who took jabs at competitor Microsoft during his speech, said secure mobility in the job will save time and money. He said his company’s Smart Card allows his employees to work both at home and at any desk in the office.

"There’s more of an audit trail and there’s more accountability," said McNealy of the technology.

He praised the innovation for its most recent local impact. The Broomfield employees were able to work from home during the March snowstorm. Sun Microsystems employs about 3,100 people in Broomfield.

Owens said if companies like Sun continue to make an investment in the state, Colorado would become a technology leader in the nation. He said that leadership position would also stem from the state’s growing biotechnology industry.

"We’re in position to leapfrog other states as America emerges from tough economic times," Owens said.

Contact Alicia Wallace at [email protected] or (303) 473-1332

http://www.dailycamera.com/bdc/tech_plus/article/0,1713,BDC_2463_2255757,00.html

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