In just 11 years, Colorado went from 49th in job growth to third. If that doesn’t show the grit of Coloradans to roll up their sleeves, work hard and innovate to move our economy forward, I don’t know what does.
That’s one of the findings in the 10th edition of the Metro Denver Economic Development Corporation’s Toward a More Competitive Colorado report, which was released today.
This report, researched extensively by the Metro Denver EDC’s Chief Economist Patty Silverstein and our Metro Denver EDC team, is THE benchmark for our economy and how we do against the other 49 states and our international competitors.
It confirms some of what we are seeing in terms of economic success. Below are some of the areas where we are leading the pack:
- We have the fourth highest number of sole proprietors, and with so many folks starting businesses, it’s no surprise that when it comes to entrepreneurial activity, we have the fifth most activity in the country.
- We have the fifth-fastest employment growth in recovery from the recession.
- We continue to be among the smartest, leanest and most active workforces in the country. And, education outcomes are improving. In 2013, we ranked 20th for graduation rates in the U.S., improving from 27th in 2000.
- And where there are jobs is where people move. We had the third-fastest population growth in 2013, up from sixth in 2012.
This report isn’t just about showing our successes; it is truly intended to ensure we don’t miss opportunities to improve as well:
- While people are flocking to our state for the great job opportunities and incredible quality of life, we are risking delivering on the dreams that brought them because homeownership is becoming less affordable and attainable. In fact, we now rank sixth for highest median housing price among the largest metro areas in the country.
- Education is a crucial component to ensuring that we create a strong workforce pipeline, but we continue to rank among the lowest for funding higher education—49th out of the 50th states. We cannot rely solely on importing the workforce we need. We must continue to increase our own high school graduation rates, reduce our college remediation rates and support more students completing their post-secondary training.
- Although our state sales tax is the lowest in the country, when local taxes are taken into account we rank 32nd for total tax revenue per capita, collecting more taxes than our competitors.
It’s vital to know where we stand in the U.S., but it’s also critical we know how Colorado compares on a global scale. We benchmarked the state relative to western and BRIC (Brazil, Russia, India and China) countries. We found that we rank first in population growth, third for college degrees, 10th for research and development and 11th for employment growth.
You can click here to read the entire report, see the trends and challenges and, most importantly, the opportunities to ensure we are creating the future we all envision for Colorado.
Kelly Brough is the president and CEO of the Denver Metro Chamber of Commerce.
[Photo by: Trevin Shirley]