Ireland became the Celtic Tiger of European economies through commitments to higher education—strategic investment in advanced research; free PhDs; exacting standards; tax breaks for artists—a model for economist Richard Florida's creativity society.

Boulder's vibrant economy is a Colorado Tiger. With CU, the national labs, and the second best educated workforce in America, Boulder has the ingredients for economic leadership in the 21st century: The business/science synergy, the entrepreneurship, and the talent to master the science to technology to market path to innovation and success.

Economist Florida stresses the three Ts of economic development: Technology. Talent. Tolerance. He's talking about the Boulders of the world. The heart of economic development is intellectual, and Boulder's where the intellectual action is. We have the creative candlepower to light up this state.

As a CU Regent, I saw over and over the transformative energy of higher education powering economic innovation. Unlike my opponent, who has a Fortune 500 and Denver Chamber orientation, I have a 20 year record of working as a government partner with Boulder businesses, from representing the city on the Boulder Chamber's Bureau of Conference Services and Cultural Affairs, to serving on the board of Downtown Boulder, Inc. At the statehouse, I want to bring in business and the Boulder ethic to tackle the big, intractable challenges—health care, immigration, transportation, poverty.

In the legislature I'll work for policies that keep Boulder businesses booming. For incentives that favor clean, green commerce. For human capital investment programs. For lifelong learning for continuing skills acquisition. For the Governor's New Energy Economy.

But the lynchpin will always be CU. Higher education provides Colorado 98,000 jobs, $387 million in state and local taxes, and four and a quarter billion dollars in wages and salaries a year.

The economic health of Colorado—and especially of Boulder—depends on the health of higher education.

So I'll champion CU in the legislature too. It's our spawning ground and nursery for entrepreneurship and innovation, as Colorado moves from an information to a knowledge to a creativity society, with Boulder lighting the way.