What Happened?

Colorado Springs is losing U.S. Space Command's headquarters to Alabama, and the city's chamber of commerce now has a D.C. lobbyist on the job. Fidelity Strategies LLC registered on Tuesday, Sept. 22, to lobby for the Colorado Springs Chamber on economic development, with Zachary Beck as its lobbyist, according to the new lobbying registration. The filing lists April 1 as the date the work began.

The Chamber has lobbied on Space Command before. ACG Advocacy reported $150,000 in income from the Chamber for lobbying on the command's location in 2020 and 2021, a fight Colorado Springs lost in January 2021 when the Air Force picked Huntsville, Alabama. The Biden administration kept the command in Colorado Springs in 2023, but President Donald Trump reversed that decision on Sept. 2, 2025.

Why Does It Matter To Me?

The move is already underway. More than 140 Space Command staff now work at Redstone Arsenal in Huntsville, and more than 900 headquarters staff will ultimately be based there, the Defense Department said in a Sept. 2 update.

Those are jobs, and paychecks, leaving the Colorado Springs area. The Chamber, a trade association that reported $6.4 million in revenue in 2024, now has a federal lobbyist working its economic development agenda.

Both Sides, Now

Alabama Attorney General Steve Marshall has called the move "a lawful, evidence-based decision," and an April 2025 Defense Department inspector general report found some senior military leaders favored Redstone Arsenal for long-term cost savings. Others in that report said Colorado would better keep the civilian workforce and the command's readiness intact.

Colorado Attorney General Phil Weiser sued the Trump administration on Oct. 29, 2025, arguing the move punishes Colorado for its mail-in voting system after Trump said the state's elections were "a big factor" in his decision. The Chamber broke with that approach, joining Colorado Springs and El Paso County leaders who opposed the lawsuit. Its president and CEO, Johnna Reeder Kleymeyer, said the Chamber and its partners "are putting partnership over partisanship and lawsuits."

What Happens Next?

The Defense Department expects about 200 Space Command staff in Huntsville by the end of the year and half of the headquarters staff there in 2028. Fidelity's quarterly lobbying report covering July through September is due Tuesday, Oct. 20.

That report will show how much Fidelity earned from the Chamber, which issues it worked on and which parts of Congress and the federal government it contacted.

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