Biomedical life sciences company Agilent Technologies moves forward with its new Frederick facility Thursday, an expansion that will eventually bring some 160 new high-paying jobs to northern Colorado.

It’s so important to Gov. Jared Polis’ goal of having Colorado’s life sciences industry thrive the way the state’s aerospace industry has flourished, he’ll travel the hour up I-25 and just northeast of Highway 52 for the groundbreaking ceremony.

Agilent is a biotechnology company focused on life science diagnostics market and born out of Hewlett-Packard in 1999. It produces products used in treating cardiovascular diseases, cancer and other diseases. In 2016, Agilent put about $400 million into its first facility in Fredrick. The decision to keep the expansion in Colorado, rather than going somewhere outside of the state, came down to the access to a skilled workforce, educational institutes and the support received from the state, company officials have said.

The Colorado Economic Development Commission in January approved $6,500 per net new job in tax credits, up to $1,787,500 in incentives for up to five years.

Polis said in an interview with the Denver Gazette it’s exciting to see Agilent expanding in Colorado, noting it already employs more than 600 people in the state. In comparison to the thriving aerospace industry in Colorado, Polis said he hopes to see similar leadership in life sciences down the road.

“I think we have all the pieces coming into place,” Polis said. “Agilent’s expansion is one of those, there’s been a number of others but I really think we have what it takes to continue to grow this exciting sector with good jobs paying $100,000 plus.”

In Colorado, the bioscience and life sciences sector generates $12.3 billion in annual sales and directly employs over 32,000 workers. Employment grew over 34% between 2010 and 2019, according to the state’s Office of Economic Development and International Trade.

This expansion — known as Train C and Train D — will lead to the creation of 160 new jobs at an average salary that exceeds $100,000 per year, as previously reported. The plan for the expansion, which is Agilent’s owned land, is estimated close to $725 million and should take three years to complete. The company went through a selection process in 2016 in a similar fashion, which led to locating Agilent in Frederick. Announced in 2020, the Train B manufacturing line will go live later this year.

Mike McMullen, CEO of Agilent Technologies, said in an interview it was the talent pool and the business climate that drew Agilent to expand in Colorado. He said the company prefers to hire locally as opposed to sourcing talent from the U.S. or other countries.

“It was the availability of highly skilled talent and the business-friendly environment in this growing life sciences corridor … all those factors really weighed very heavily into our decision to make what is a very significant investment for Agilent and hopefully for the state of Colorado as well,” McMullen said.

The market for these therapeutic nucleic acids is currently estimated at $1 billion and growing, according to a previous press release from the company. It should reach $2.4 billion in 2027. This expansion will allow the company is meet a growing demand for siRNA, antisense and CRISPR guide RNA molecules with the first expansion-made shipments to begin in 2026.

“Everybody wants these kinds of jobs in their states, in their countries,” McMullen said. “This is a great area of science. It’s high-growth, high-paying jobs and where people who are attracted to work for a company that’s mission-driven where you can really make a difference in the world want to come work for you.”

Agilent has a program called the Agilent Foundation Program where the company funds programs aimed at underrepresented individuals to be able to get associate degrees in life sciences to come work for the company. Today, the company donated $25,000 to P-TECH of Frederick High School.