COLORADO SPRINGS — A major push is happening to make Colorado Springs the permanent home of U.S. Space Command.
The Colorado Springs Chamber & EDC is launching a national campaign to promote Springs as the ideal location for the newly established Space Force.
The EDC shared that there's some tough competition including Huntsville, Ala. and the Space Coast of Florida. Organizers are hopeful that this campaign will get the attention of President Trump, especially during his upcoming visit this Thursday at the Broadmoor World Arena.
Reggie Ash, chief defense development officer of the Colorado Springs Chamber & EDC, said, "President Trump could make this decision any day. He could take several months to make this decision."
The timeline for choosing a permanent location for U.S. Space Command may be in question, but one thing that's certain is "we need to move on to the next level," said Ash. He shared that the organization has been promoting Springs as the best location since 2018.
He said, "If U.S. Space Command stays here it's 1,500 jobs as well as a military construction project in the neighborhood of a billion dollars."
Now in early 2020 he and others are stepping up their efforts and launching a $350,000 national campaign called "Securing U.S. Space Command."
Ash said, "We need to make sure that President Trump and his key decision makers understand all the assets that Colorado brings to the table in terms of the aerospace industry and the military industry."
The funds for the campaign are coming from the chamber and other regional and state partners.
Ash said, "There is going to be a lot of social media. We launched that effort this morning."
5,000 t-shirts are also being passed out to anyone who wants to show their support for the campaign.
Ash said, "We'd like to have all 5,000 of these being worn inside the World Arena on Thursday. This is just one of the ways that we are going to show President Trump how important U.S. Space Command is to this community."
On Tuesday plenty of people showed up at the chamber to pick up a t-shirt.
Rebecca Axton said, "I think it's amazing. I will support the military here in Colorado Springs anytime."
Kris Deherrera is supporting the campaign and the military because "it affects housing, it affects every economic base in Colorado Springs...we really, really want Space Command in Colorado Springs."
Experts say those 1,500 potential jobs will mean higher skills and higher pay. Beyond that - if Space Command is established in Colorado Springs a lot of private contracts could be made which could benefit the hundreds of defense and aerospace companies that are already here.
If you'd like to show your support for Space Command in Springs you can pick up one of those t-shirts at the chamber office at 102 South Tejon #430 on Wednesday.
