Gov. John Hickenlooper
 / FOX21: file photo
COLORADO SPRINGS, COLO. -- Governor Hickenlooper made a stop in Colorado Springs Tuesday afternoon and visited a local company celebrating their move to the city.
dpiX, a market leader in digital X-ray sensors, announced it has completed the move of its headquarters to Colorado Springs from California, and achieved full production status.
Governor Hickenlooper said attracting high-tech companies like dpiX is the only way Colorado and the country can survive.
"Our ability to innovate is going to be the defining factor that's gonna allow this country to dominate the world's economy. I can't think of anything else that's more important," Hickenlooper said as he addressed a small crowd of employees and community leaders at dpiX.
Company leaders said Colorado Springs was chosen because of its infrastructure, access to employees with the right education, and helpfulness of the state.
"We needed extra capacity, so we decided that we should buy a new fab, and Colorado Springs was the ideal location for that," Frank Caris, President & CEO of dpiX, said.
Since the beginning of its move in 2006 dpiX has employed 150 people in Colorado Springs and invested more than $100 million into the community.
Caris said there could be room for more employment in the future too.
"I think our market is rapidly growing, so I see further growth in the future," Caris said.
Hickenlooper also spoke about his "Colorado Blueprint," which outlines six areas of focus. At the top is creating a business-friendly environment.
"That's only gonna happen if everybody in the state links arms and says 'okay, we're all gonna work on this together, republicans, democrats, big companies, little companies, big cities, small towns,'" Hickenlooper said.
Colorado Springs Mayor Steve Bach was also in attendance and said it's important for Colorado Springs to bring more companies like dpiX to the area.
"I'm also in cooperation with the Economic Development Corporation talking to a number of companies thinking about locating here, encouraging them to come and take a look at us so that I can tell them directly that if they move here we will take great care of them," Bach said.
Bach said it's also important to keep the companies that are already in Colorado Springs happy.
"We need to give them world class service as a city and we're gonna do everything that we can," he said.