While it’s been around for at least a decade, it hasn’t been official until now.

That’s 303 Day, which celebrates everything in Colorado and, more importantly, promote Colorado-linked goods and services.

The state Senate passed a joint resolution on Monday naming March 3 as Buy Colorado Day and the inaugural day of Buy Colorado Week, which runs through March 10.

Ricardo Baca, a former journalist and founder of the Grasslands public relations agency, devised the 303 Day concept to promote the state and its businesses.

On Monday, he stood on the west steps of the state Capitol and extolled the virtues of everything Colorado at exactly 3:03 p.m.

“There is something special in the Rocky Mountain Water here, something that breeds innovation, fuels creativity, and builds businesses that change the world,” Baca said.

He noted that the state’s track record includes the invention of outdoor Christmas lights, cheeseburgers, Chipotle burritos, cowboy hats, Crocs, and Jolly Ranchers.

“Colorado businesses share a common DNA: the pursuit of excellence with unwavering authenticity,” Baca added.

Senate President James Coleman joined in the celebration.

He spoke about how Colorado businesses build community.

“The local coffee shop where you spend $4 every morning employs your neighbors,” he said, and “they use their pay to shop at the sandwich shop down the street. Those employees spend their money at the local dry cleaner, who uses his pay to cover his daughter’s preschool care, and the cycle is completed when the teachers at that preschool buy their coffee at the same place.”

Colorado businesses are also part of a fundamentally cultural conversation, he added. Whether the coffee shop, a clothing store, a favorite greasy spoon eatery, “or that restaurant you only go to on special occasions — each of these businesses comes to define neighborhoods and how people move around in the world,” he said.

Baca said, officially, that Buy Colorado Day would start in one year.

“We are marketing Colorado brands to discerning consumers who understand that Colorado isn’t just a place. It’s a lifestyle, it’s an aspiration. And perhaps most importantly, Colorado’s a vibe.”