Sun also rises.

• Author: Graham, Sandy
• Position: Includes related article - Sun Microsystems in Colorado

CALIFORNIA'S JAVA MAKER BRINGS SILICON VALLEY STYLE TO BROOMFIELD

Where the occasional deer or antelope once roamed, more than 2,100 humans now swarm through four sprawling buildings, bent on dot-comming the world.

Palo Alto, Calif.-based Sun Microsystems Inc. (NASDAQ: SUNW), the $11.7 billion behemoth that sells systems and software for the Internet Age, in 1996 announced it would establish its Colorado beachhead. Its Sun Enterprise Services Division staked out a 75-acre patch of Broomfield's Interlocken Business Park as Sun's only division headquarters outside Silicon Valley. Construction continues, with three more buildings likely to be finished by the end of 2000. Sun hesitates to predict, but many observers believe its eventual employment will top 4,000, which would place the division among Colorado's 15 largest employers.

"I see Sun playing a very important role in Colorado's future, not just because of their employee base, but because of their leadership role in their industry," said David Solin, director of the Colorado Office of Economic Development.

Sun has brought more to Colorado than high-paying jobs and messier rush hours on U.S. 36. It has added a different dimension - a California flavor - to the business community here. This is a company that has its own trademarked color, Sun Blue; that holds informal meetings in armchair-sprinkled "touchdown areas" instead of cubicles.

Sun fosters an entrepreneurial spirit unusual for its size that encourages its employees to work and play hard. "Kick butt and have fun" is the oft-quoted mantra of Sun CEO Scott McNealy.

"We've been very successful at that for the last 17 years," said Bill Richardson, vice president and general manager of Sun Educational Services, one of three divisions in Sun's Colorado location, which covers customer and employee training. The company has had only one unprofitable quarter in its history, Richardson noted. "People are given a lot of responsibility and a lot of latitude, and told to do good. And they're rewarded for that .... I think that's perhaps a little more California than it is Colorado."

Sun's community commitment wins high, wide praise in the metro area.

"Sun has been an outstanding neighbor," said John Buechner, University of Colorado president. "It's a perfect fit in many respects."

Sun hires CU students as interns, and hires CU graduates as full-time employees. Sun employees serve as adjunct faculty, and work on special engineering projects. CU...