Scythe Robotics, a maker of automated landscaping equipment, has chosen to locate 394 new jobs in Longmont, where it is based, the Colorado Office of Economic Development and International Trade announced on Thursday.
The company had considered Florida and Texas, warm weather states where many of its customers are based, for a new 28,000-square-foot facility to boost its manufacturing capacity. It chose instead to double its existing space in Colorado after receiving approval for up to $372,000 in Strategic Fund Job Growth Incentives from the Colorado Economic Development Commission.
The company cited Longmont’s proximity to top universities, the state’s “vibrant and expanding robotics community,” and the draw of Colorado’s outdoor recreation lifestyle as key reasons for staying put.
The positions added will include engineers, manufacturing workers, and sales and operations staff. The new jobs are expected to have an average annual wage of $116,881, which is 157% of Boulder County’s average annual wage.
“The opening of our state-of-the-art robotics facility accelerates our ability to deliver high-quality, game-changing machines to our customers for the upcoming mowing season,” said Jack Morrison, co-founder and CEO of Scythe in a news release.
Morrison, who came to Colorado for a Ph.D. program in robotics, co-founded the company in 2017 with Isaac Roberts and Davis Foster.They developed an automated mowing machine — think a more sophisticated and much larger outdoor version of a Roomba — which cost less to operate than a traditional mower.
The landscaping industry has struggled for years with severe labor shortages, making it reliant on seasonal crews from Mexico and other countries. When temporary visas became much harder to obtain, the industry became a prime candidate for automation.
Mowing robots don’t eliminate the need for laborers, who must bring the machines to a job site and monitor them. But they eliminate more mundane tasks and long hours spent in the heat, breathing mower exhaust.
Yet setting 1,300-pound machines with sharp blades loose in public spaces isn’t something done lightly. The company has worked through several generations of its machine to improve safety and efficiency while collecting thousands of orders from desperate customers. Now it is preparing to produce the mowers in larger quantities.
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Scythe currently has 80 employees, three-quarters of them based in Colorado. In January of last year, it raised $42 million in a funding round led by Energy Impact Partners.
“We are proud that our growth is generating meaningful job opportunities within Colorado’s burgeoning cleantech sector and advancing our state’s culture of collaboration and creativity. Boulder County’s diverse talent pool and inspiring landscape make it the ideal place for Scythe to innovate and lead the way in robotics,” Morrison said.
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