COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. (KKTV) – Colorado Springs is one step closer to becoming a CHIPS Zone following the City Council’s approval of a resolution on Monday.

The CHIPS Zone Program was created through Colorado House Bill 23-1260 to maximize incentives available to eligible semiconductor companies in the state. Municipalities, counties, and groups of the two can apply to designate a geographical area within their governance as a CHIPS Zone.

According to the City of Colorado Springs, becoming a CHIPS Zone would allow eligible businesses to apply for state tax income credits for new employees, research and development, investment and more.

The city said this can strengthen local supply chains and keep jobs in Colorado Springs, as well as support the growth of companies involved in semiconductor design, production, and advanced manufacturing.

“I want to thank City Council for advancing this important opportunity for Colorado Springs,” Mayor Yemi Mobolade said.

“With their approval of the proposed CHIPS Zone boundaries, we’re reinforcing our legacy as a high-tech manufacturing hub and accelerating our momentum as ‘Silicon Mountain.’”

The proposal now goes to the Colorado Economic Development Commission for final consideration.

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Colorado athletics director Rick George will step down from his role at the end of the academic year and become a special advisor to the chancellor, the school announced Thursday.

George has been the AD in Boulder since 2013, returning to the school where he once served on legendary football coach Bill McCartney’s staff as the recruiting coordinator and assistant athletic director for football operations. This coincided with Colorado’s only national title in 1990.

“It has been the honor of a lifetime to serve as Athletic Director for the University of Colorado for the last 13 years, but after considerable thought and discussions with my family dating back to last spring, I have decided it is time for new leadership to guide the department,” said George. “I wanted to make this announcement now in order to give Chancellor Schwartz plenty of time to find the right person for Colorado, and I look forward to doing everything I can to ensure a smooth transition.

“I also wanted to time my announcement so that I could support Coach Prime and our football team this season, which I’m looking forward to continuing in my new role.”

During his tenure as athletics director, George oversaw the development of a new athletics building attached to Folsom Field and was named the Athletic Director of the year in 2023-24 by the National Association of Collegiate Directors of Athletics.

His time as AD will perhaps be most remembered by his hiring of Deion Sanders as football coach, which generated significant national interest in Colorado football. He also returned Colorado to the Big 12, which represented a significant domino in the collapse of the Pac-12 following UCLA and USC’s departures for the Big Ten.

George also spent time as a member of the College Football Playoff Selection Committee and served on the Division I Council.

“Rick’s contributions to our university in his 13 years as head of our athletic department have been incalculable,” Chancellor Justin Schwartz said. “He is a nationally respected leader who has always kept CU at the forefront of the dynamic and highly competitive landscape of college athletics. I am grateful for his leadership and am elated he has decided to stay on as a Special Advisor and AD Emeritus.”

Prior to becoming AD, George was the Chief Operating Officer for the Texas Rangers of Major League Baseball.

The school did not announce a timeline for hiring a replacement.

The Community College of Aurora just got a big chuck of change to help young people who are not in school or working to reconnect with education and career opportunities. They hope it can help close what youth advocates call “the opportunity gap.”

There are lots of reasons people won’t seek education after high school.

“Some may not see it as a good investment at the time. Honestly, we also compete with the gig economy. Right? You see the money in your pocket immediately, and you think, ‘This is great money,’” said Clair Collins the vice president of Enrollment Success and Completion at the college. 

That kind of experience described by Collins is among many reasons college students don’t finish their degrees.

“Maybe, they have a family member that they’re the primary caretaker of,” Collins said. “Maybe, they feel that they cannot currently invest the time or money into going and pursuing a college education. Maybe, they’re a parent.”

But thanks to a new $100,000 grant from Aspen Institute Forum for Community Solutions, the Community College of Aurora hopes to enable those people to invest in their future.

“What we see over time is that return on investment is better if students go to college,” Collins said.

The college plans on using the money to work with other organizations to reach out to young people to see why they aren’t going to college, then provide them resources and services they need.

“Also investing in some proactive system redesign so that students don’t have to self-identify as needing this help in the first place,” Collins said. “That they can just come to us and expect that their needs are going to be met.”

CCA says this will not only benefit the students they can help and the college, but also the state.

“Colorado is well poised to be a true economic engine, for the United States, and CCA wants to be a big part of that,” Collins said.