Folks might guess that local businesspeople would be interested in a planned project promising thousands of jobs and redevelopment of hundreds of acres - and they'd be right.

The local business-oriented citizen group Boulder Tomorrow hosted a Tuesday presentation about what the international energy giant ConocoPhillips plans to do with the old Sun Microsystems (formerly StorageTek) campus in Louisville. Several hundred attendees packed a meeting room at the Spice of Life Event Center, 5706 Arapahoe Avenue, to learn more.

In short, ConocoPhillips recently purchased the 432-acre Sun parcel, with plans to build a corporate education center and energy research facility on the site. From a strictly business-oriented standpoint, the opportunities could be huge and the associated issues will be many -think real estate, construction, local job opportunities, spin-off businesses from research, transportation, and ties with CU and other regional institutions.

Mary Manning, ConocoPhillips' general manager for global real estate and facilities service, and Chuck Sisk, Mayor of Louisville, were the main speakers. Tom Clark, executive vice president of the Metro Denver Economic Development Corporation and the Denver Metro Chamber of Commerce, moderated and offered comments.

For Louisville, ConocoPhillips' decision means a whole bunch of money and economic activity will be coming into town. Clark said that a fully functioning facility could provide a yearly payroll of roughly $500 million and annual economic impact of $1 billion, but Sisk said the economic ripple effects will extend beyond his city's limits.

Sisk holds undergraduate and law degrees from CU, and he said that he remains "a Buff, through and through," to this day. He said Tuesday that the presence of the new facilities will offer great opportunities for research or educational collaboration between ConocoPhillips and CU.

Also, he said other regional entities - including the Colorado Renewable Energy Collaboratory partners National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL), Colorado State University and the Colorado School of Mines - should benefit from having ConocoPhillips in the area.

But with regional economic impact can come regional infrastructure needs. Sisk said economic development can be quite difficult without an adequate transportation network, and he pointed out U.S. 36, the often-congested main artery through Louisville, as a major concern.

He also said that representatives from a number of entities will be signing on to a policy statement in favor of a U.S. 36 Preferred Alternative Committee document on July 9. The Committee has agreed on a preferred U.S. 36 redevelopment plan, but money remains an issue since neither local, state or federal governments have identified full funding for major reconstruction.

"I would suggest to you that nothing is more important than U.S. 36," said Sisk. "We're going to need to find the money."

Funding has been identified for U.S. 36 commuter rail and limited Bus Rapid Transit (BRT) improvements through the 2004 FasTracks initiative, and Manning said ConocoPhillips plans to work with the City of Louisville on local infrastructure.

She also spent a minute clearing up a misconception about how many employees would work at the Louisville campus. Recent headlines suggested 7,000 employees would be coming, but Manning said ConocoPhillips is merely working on permitting so it could handle 7,000 employees in the future - perhaps 20-25 years down the road.

Manning said the company plans to hire the best employees possible, so it will search both globally and locally. This means people earning decent salaries will be moving to the area, and not surprisingly, several meeting attendees from the real estate field asked Manning about real estate implications.

She said ConocoPhillips believes the local real estate market will be able to handle the influx of employees, but said the campus will not include a mixed-use housing component. On the other hand, she said it will include overnight lodging accommodations, food service and an employee fitness center.

On the environmental front, Manning said the research will include work on "any kind" of renewable energy, including wind and solar or future sources that aren't even identified yet. She said ConocoPhillips as a corporation will continue to explore for and work with petroleum, but said there doesn't appear to be any end in sight to escalating oil prices.

"We have to look for new ways to power the world," said Manning. "We need to be part of the changing energy culture in the U.S."

Manning also said ConocoPhillips has made a commitment to green building practices during redevelopment. She didn't say if it would shoot for any certain Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) certification, but did say the firm is examining European green building practices for ideas.

But back to economic development - Manning said there probably will be "business incubator" opportunities, so fledgling businesses can grow out of campus research and development.

Also, Clark said the ConocoPhillips decision put a huge exclamation point on Colorado's efforts to become a national or even international leader in renewable energy and energy research.

"All of a sudden, the whole world's head kind of snaps and says, 'Wow, what does ConocoPhillips know that we don't?'" said Clark.

Clark said interest from foreign companies in doing energy business in Colorado has increased dramatically. He said the reasons include great or decent supplies of conventional (coal, natural gas) or alternative (solar, wind) energy sources, access to "human capital" and a well-educated workforce, and at least one other key concern.

"People think Metro Denver is cool," quipped Clark.

He also said the region has made good land use and planning decisions, invested in FasTracks or other transit, and committed to energy research. Manning and Sisk added that Louisville's quality of life was a factor, and the region could have a branch of the 2008 fifth-ranking Fortune 500 company up and running by 2012.

Contact Richard Valenty about this story at (303) 443-6272 ext. 126, or valenty@coloradodaily.com.