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Over the weekend, Colorado once again asked California to be its Valentine, but the relationship, it seems, is less about love and more about money.
Colorado’s Metro Denver Economic Development Corporation and Governor Bill Ritter joined in a marketing push—“COlovesCA”—meant to convince California companies that are seeking to expand to do so in Colorado, where taxes and the cost of living are lower but the “quality of life” and number of people with degrees is high.
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To woo California, the EDC ran an ad in the business pages of the Los Angeles Times, placed “Colorado Cupids” on the streets of L.A. to hand out candy, and sent Valentines and chocolates to executives of Fortune 500 “clean tech” companies, according to the Denver Business Journal.
Not everyone is amused. Republican state Representative Jim Kerr (right) of Littleton said, “Are you kidding me?” after he found out it was no joke (via The Associated Press).
In fact, a similar campaign took place last year. Has the love been requited so far?
“We had some success with last year’s campaign generating inquiries,” Erin Bodine of the EDC tells the San Francisco Chronicle. She names several Bay Area companies relocating to Colorado, including Novato’s SPG Solar, which is opening an office in Denver later this year, and Foster City’s Solar City, which set up an operations facility in the region last year.