City Tops "Brain Concentration Index"
A new measure of fitness for success in America鈥檚 high-tech economy shows Boulder has the right stuff. When Bloomberg News published its 鈥�2016 Brain Concentration Index鈥� in December, metro Boulder ranked first.
The index measures 鈥減er-capita concentration of residents working in science, technology and engineering occupations or who have science and engineering college degrees or post-graduate degrees.鈥�
In a story about the index, Bloomberg introduced Boulder as a 鈥渢ech incubator and the home of the University of Colorado.鈥� It also highlighted the region鈥檚 aerospace, bioscience and renewable energy industries, software firms and abundant federal science labs.
鈥淭he public-sector presence contributed to the brains,鈥� Clif Harald (DistSt鈥�75), executive director of the Boulder Economic Council, said in the story.
Two other university towns made the index鈥檚 top five: Ann Arbor, Mich., home of the University of Michigan, and Ithaca, New York, home of Cornell University. San Jose, Calif., and Washington, D.C., round out the top five.
A major Google campus is under construction at 30th and Pearl Streets in Boulder, as the Internet search giant prepares for a local head-count expansion that could eventually bring total local employment to 1,500. Twitter and Microsoft also have operations in the city, along with a host of smaller tech firms and start-ups.
Bloomberg capped its story with a headline that says it all: 鈥淎merica鈥檚 Best and Brightest Are Headed to Boulder.鈥�
Illustration by Brian Stauffer
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