El Pomar Group Tours New Space Foundation Headquarters

COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. (Sep. 6, 2011) — Four representatives of El Pomar Foundation – Chairman and CEO William J. Hybl, President/Chief Investment Officer and Trustee R. Thayer Tutt, Jr., Chief Operating Officer and Trustee Dave Palenchar and Vice President/Grants Matt Carpenter –  toured the new Space Foundation headquarters building this week to see the progress of the project, funded primarily by El Pomar Foundation and its internal Anna Keesling Ackerman Fund.

The Space Foundation moved into the new headquarters at 4425 Arrowswest Drive in the Garden of the Gods high tech corridor in Colorado Springs in July. The first stage of renovation has been completed on the 45,715 square-foot facility and a second stage of work that will include installation of an elevator will begin soon.

Hybl said he was impressed by work on the building and complimented Space Foundation CEO Elliot Pulham. “You really got this right,” Hybl told Pulham.

At the time El Pomar awarded the grant in January of this year Hybl said, “As one of the first supporters of the Space Foundation nearly 30 years ago, El Pomar Foundation believed that a worldwide organization of this caliber based in Colorado Springs would truly benefit the city and the state of Colorado. That belief has certainly been rewarded over time as the Space Foundation continues to be an economic and educational driving force on the local level, while maintaining a reputation for excellence on an international scale.”

El Pomar’s grant is contingent upon the Space Foundation retaining its headquarters in Colorado Springs and holding its annual National Space Symposium in El Paso County for 15 years from the date of the gift.

The Space Foundation was founded in Colorado Springs in 1983 and has held the National Space Symposium at The Broadmoor Hotel for the past 27 years. The premier gathering of space professionals in the world, the National Space Symposium has an estimated local economic impact of more than $30 million per year, as well as bringing the region to the attention of industry, government and military leaders and media from around the world.

About El Pomar Foundation and the Anna Keesling Ackerman Fund
El Pomar Foundation is one of the largest and oldest private foundations in the Rocky Mountain West. El Pomar contributes approximately $20 million annually through grants and programs to support Colorado non-profit organizations involved in health, human services, education, arts and humanities and civic and community initiatives. Spencer and Julie Penrose founded El Pomar in 1937. In September 2006, the assets and grant program of the former Anna Keesling Ackerman Trust were given to El Pomar Foundation to continue on as the Anna Keesling Ackerman Fund within El Pomar Foundation. The Fund seeks to continue the charitable intent of Jasper D. Ackerman as evidenced through his life and through the Trust’s extensive history. Ackerman, a business leader in Colorado Springs from the 1940s until his death in 1988, founded the Trust in 1963 and named it in honor of his mother.

Pictured: Representatives from El Pomar Foundation tour the new Space Foundation headquarters in Colorado Springs, Colo. From left are Elliot Pulham, Matt Carpenter, Bill Hybl and Thayer Tutt.