The city of Fort Collins, Colorado is located along the Cache La Poudre River. The city is classed a Home Rule Municipality. Located along the Colorado Front Range, Fort Collins serves as the county seat and biggest city of Larimer County. The 2010 census listed the populations as 143,986 making it the 4th most populous city within Colorado state. The city of Fort Collins is situated 57 miles or 92 kms north of Denver, the state capital of Colorado.
Fort Collins is nestled along the Rocky Mountain foothills some 55 miles northeast of Boulder, Colorado. Colorado State University or also called CSU, is situated in Fort Collins also, thus it is a largely populated college township.
The city of Fort Collins was originally a post for the army but was referred to as "Camp Collins," to honor Lt. Col. William O. Collins, who was the commander of Ohio Cavalry troops who were based at Fort Laramie. In 1864, a devastating flood almost destroyed the initial army post. The existing location of the city of Fort Collins was picked to be the site of the new military operation. The new post was named Fort Collins. In the year 1867, the fort was decommissioned but a new town still emerged. During the year 1873, the new town of Fort Collins was incorporated officially.
Six years afterward, a different significant milestone was achieved with the opening of the Colorado Agricultural College. This would eventually become Colorado State University. Initially founded as the only land grant institution within Colorado, CSU has become a significant part of the city's culture and recreation as well as being the largest employer within Fort Collins.
Within Fort Collins, the city features a balanced economy with a really educated workforce. Businesses like Hewlett Packard, Water Pik, Woodward and Anheuser-Busch are a force in the city's manufacturing business. The research resources and facilities at CSU have attracted several hi-tech businesses to the region. There are offices for Avago, Intel, AMD, LSI, Pelco and national Semi-Conductor situated in the city. In addition, agri-tech and clean energy businesses are likewise part of the economy.
Amongst the many businesses within the city' manufacturing base, they produce goods like for instance scientific instruments, aircraft components, industrial chemicals, collecting and measuring instruments, communications equipment, solar technology, bio fuels, Smart Grid technology and turbines.
Within Fort Collins, the major non-agricultural sectors for employment consist of Healthcare, Transportation and Utilities, Government, Education, Trade, Business and Professional Services, Leisure and Hospitality and Manufacturing.
Over the last decade, the largest businesses in the city of Fort Collins have been CSU, Poudre Valley Health System, Avago Technologies, Hewlett Packard, Larimer County, Agilent, Poudre School District, City of Fort Collins, Eastman Kodak, and CO.