January 20, 2021

Meet Mike Juran, your 2021 Board Chair

Five things to know about Mike Juran, CEO of Altia in downtown Colorado Springs, and 2021 Chamber & EDC Board Chair

Mike Juran

  1. You may not know about his company, but you’ve probably interacted with their work
    Altia develops and prototypes graphical user interfaceor GUI designs, such as the displays and touchscreens. There’s a good chance you’ve likely interacted with Altia’s designs at some point, considering GM, Ford, Chrysler, BMW, Hyndai, Toyota, Fiat and even the likes of Jaquar and Lamborghini are among the company’s current and past customers. Over 62 million cars and trucks have Altia inside. And that’s just their automotive customers.
  2. He’s an engineer and entrepreneur
    Before starting Altia, Mike was an engineer at Hewlett-Packard’s Colorado Springs location. Mike and his colleague, Tom Walton, saw a growing market in electronics and spun off their own company, which became Altia. Now a global company, Altia has employees in COS, Detroit, Germany, Japan, and South Korea.
  3. Altia is committed to growing Colorado Springs
    While Mike co-founded Altia here, it by no means meant he had to keep it here. The decision to stay and grow their headquarters here is an intentional one, based in part because of our region’s growing tech talent and vibrancy. “We’re going to help create the city that this company can grow in. We realized pretty quickly that we expand outside our four walls and into the city we’re in.”
  4. And they’re committed to our region’s talent pipeline
    When looking at our region’s workforce and resources, Mike and his team see untapped students, especially in Southeast Colorado Springs and Harrison School District 2. Prior to the pandemic, they started an initiative to bring engineers – especially female engineers – into middle and high schools to help inform students of careers in their field and how they can get there. They’re currently working towards an even more diverse environment, so that those kids can see mentors and coaches.
  5. Did we mention he’s also a philanthropist? 
    When the pandemic hit, Mike helped Harrison School District 2 students access their online classes. Altia worked with Pikes Peak Community Foundation and local companies, including Nor’wood, Keller Homes, A Toll Brothers Company and Pikes Peak Community College, to raise over $100 thousand in a few weeks, providing the district with 500 internet hot spots.