Gov. John Hickenlooper signed legislation on the steps of the El Pomar Center Friday at the University of Colorado at Colorado Springs. At a bill signing ceremony crowded with state legislators and other high-ranking officials, he jotted his signature to an act establishing Colorado’s formal push to become a national leader in cybersecurity.

House Bill 16-1453 establishes the National Cyber Intelligence Center (NCIC) on the campus of UCCS, a university certified by the U.S. National Security Administration and Department for Homeland Security as a National Center of Academic Excellence.

NCIC is intended to occupy an old manufacturing facility located in the northwest portion of Colorado Springs. Currently, the facility is owned by the university and is used as a storage warehouse for the campus. The bill appropriates up to $8 million to renovate the facility with its official opening following a year later. Federal funding sources will amount to about $6 million, in addition to private sources kicking in thousands of dollars on top of that. Ed Anderson, a retired lieutenant general in U.S. Army, currently serves as the interim executive director for NCIC.

The facility will provide cybersecurity resources for the private sector to deter cyber threats and will also maintain several educational programs for public officials, business executives and government agency executives.

“This is the first step of what is hopefully to be a long journey,” Hickenlooper said during a news conference following the bill signing. “We want Colorado Springs to be one of the top … cities in the nation for cybersecurity.”

Hickenlooper also explained that the NCIC will work as a cybersecurity research, education and response facility that will house research from UCCS, the nearby U.S. Air Force Academy, and CSU. In addition, the governor was optimistic the center could draw in “tens of thousands” of jobs into Colorado.

HB 16-1453 was introduced this legislative session by state Rep. Millie Hamner, D-Dillon, and state Sen. Kent Lambert, R-Colorado Springs, chair and vice chair of the Joint Budget Committee respectively. The bill passed with broad support with an April 29 House vote of 52-13 and a Senate vote of 30-5.

Hickenlooper signs bill creating national cybersecurity center in Colorado Springs

“We are pleased that Gov. Hickenlooper chose UCCS as the site to sign HB 16-1453 which identifies Colorado Springs as the location for the National Cyber Intelligence Center,” said Tom Hutton, a UCCS spokesman, in an email to The Colorado Statesman, “We are also … appreciative of the leadership of Sen. Kent Lambert and Rep. Millie Hamner who served as the bill’s sponsors.”

Colorado Springs is home to five military bases as well as several major commands of the U.S. military. Major commands located in the springs include the North American Aerospace Defense Command, U.S. Northern Command, and Air Force Space Command.