Colorado may be close to scoring another big win in quantum computing, an emerging technology that promises to multiply processing power several-fold as it moves into commercial development.

The Colorado Economic Development Commission on Thursday approved $4.43 million in Job Growth Incentive Tax Credits for a company using the code name “Project Laser.” That incentive is tied to the creation of 225 net new jobs paying an average annual wage of $232,021.

That wage is twice the average in Broomfield County, which has the highest average pay in the state and is often used as a benchmark.

Although the company’s name was not disclosed, the limited information provided — including the executive who spoke on behalf of Project Laser — points to Atom Computing.

Project Laser will most likely be located in Boulder, which is home to the country’s biggest concentration of quantum computing companies, said Dan Salvetti, semiconductor industry manager with the Colorado Office of Economic Development and International Trade.

But the company is also considering Chicago, which has become Boulder’s chief rival for quantum dominance.

The company plans to invest $158 million in a new research and development center with 80,000 to 100,000 square feet of space.

In a sign of the importance the state places on the new R&D facility, the company has also received approval for an additional $10.3 million in Enterprise Zone tax credits, for a combined $14.7 million in refundable credits.

Because startup companies are often unprofitable and lack state income tax liability, the commission approved converting $9 million of those credits into a direct cash refund under the state’s CHIPS Refundable Tax Credit Program.

Awards under the program are capped at $15 million a year through fiscal year 2028. Given the high demand, the award approved Thursday will dip into what remains of the 2028 allocation.

Atom Computing was started in 2018 by Ben Bloom and Jonathan King. Their approach uses a unique laser cooling and optical trapping technique to put neutral atoms, which can be packed together more tightly, to work running complex computations.

Although the company is based in Berkeley, California, about 85 of its 130 employees work out of Boulder, where Atom Computing opened an R&D center in September 2022.

That initial leased space was 17,000 square feet, and it was later expanded to 40,000 square feet at BioMed Realty’s Flatiron Park. Even that has become too tight.

In May and June, Atom Computing raised $200 million, including $100 million from the U.S. Department of Commerce and a $100 million venture capital round.

Boulder had been on a hot streak of landing quantum research centers this year. In March, Google Quantum AI set up a team in Boulder to work on its own neutral-atom hardware system.

In May, rival IonQ cut the ribbon on a new 22,000-square-foot laboratory at Boulder 38, where it will test its next-generation ion trap chips and install one of its latest-generation commercial quantum computers.

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