(COLORADO SPRINGS)– Governor Jared Polis announced on Wednesday, April 9 that a company pioneering a new type of high-speed transportation is expanding to Colorado Springs. He made the announcement at the Space Symposium, and added that this could mean more jobs are coming to our state.
The world’s largest testing site for the Hyperloop is located in Pueblo. It’s an ultra-high-speed ground transportation system that uses tubes and pressurized vehicles called pods. The new assembly factory coming to Colorado Springs would help develop technology for the existing testing site and support the growth of Swisspod, the company behind it all.
“If it succeeds in building out, it will enable people to get to Denver from Colorado Springs in 15 minutes,” said Governor Polis.
If you have ever dreaded the drive up I-25 from Southern Colorado to Denver, you’re in luck. Swisspod has made a solution to get people from city to city much easier.
“I don’t know about you, but I’ll take a hypersonic trip any day of the week rather than fighting I-25 traffic,” said Johanna Reeder, the CEO of the Colorado Springs Chamber of Commerce.
The new transportation system is similar to a train that can travel up to 300 miles per hour, transporting both people and goods between cities.
“It’s a mode of transportation, which we can define as being as fast as a plane, but as convenient as a train so we can build an aircraft which is going to fly at ground level,” said Denis Tudor, the CEO & Founder of Swisspod.
It’s the future of transportation, and now Colorado Springs has the opportunity to be a part of creating it. The new manufacturing plant in the Pikes Peak Region will build the tracks and the pods used by a facility in Pueblo to test the new mode of transportation.
“We’re going to bring people here in Colorado Springs and assemble our vehicle in that specific office and assembly space,” said Tudor.
Swisspod expects to create more than a hundred new jobs at an annual wage of around $68,000, which is above the average salary in El Paso County.
“It’s exciting that they’ve raised a lot of capital, really exploring that and hiring people right here in Colorado Springs to make it happen,” said Governor Polis.
The Colorado Economic Development Commission also approved up to $918,000 in tax credits for the company over eight years.
“The number of engineers we have coming out of the University of Colorado Colorado Springs was very enticing for them. They loved the pro-business environment of Colorado Springs,” said Reeder.
If the company is successful, they say the Hyperloop can connect cities as far apart as Chicago and San Diego.
“Looking 100 years from now, I think would be great to have a kind of connection between Canada, Mexico and the United States,” said Tudor.
There is currently no timeline for when the plant will be built in Colorado Springs, but the Hyperloop testing site in Pueblo should be finished being built by the end of the year.
