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ARTICLE: Fort Collins In-Depth

Affectionately known as "Fort Fun" or "The Choice City," Fort Collins and neighboring Loveland, Colorado have populations of 127,000 residents and 51,000 residents respectively. Loveland has built a reputation as the Valentine remailing capital (whereby residents initiate a mass love letter mailing campaign). Fort Collin's fame stems more from its strategic role during the Civil War and expansionist era. The per capita income of this region is roughly $33,000 a year.

Fort Collins is home to some of the largest manufacturers in the world including:

• Hewlett-Packard
• Eastman Kodak
• Celestica
• Agilent Technologies
• Advanced Energy
• Anheuser-Busch
• Woodward Governor
• LSI Logic Corporation
• Teledyne Water Pik

Fort Collins-Loveland has also managed to incorporate many service industries into its economy. Currently, the top employers in the region also include:

• Colorado State university
• Poudre School District
• Poudre Valley Hospital

In recent years, the local county government has initiated an incentive-based business development program in which small businesses and entrepreneurs are given attractive tax breaks, loans, and start up capital to help encourage growth. The industries that have benefited the most from this program include:

• Pharmaceuticals
• Aircraft and parts
• Scientific instruments, measuring and controlling instruments
• Radio and TV equipment
• Industrial chemicals, turbines, and electronic components

Known as the "virtual incubator," this ambitious program has helped bring more competition to both the manufacturing and service industries in Fort Collins since 1997.

Sources:

• Fort Collins Home Page
• US Census Bureau, American Fact Finder
• Wikipedia

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