Executive Summary

Entrepreneurship

• Job creation comes largely from nascent small businesses.
• In Colorado the business sector is highly dynamic, characterized by more job creation and destruction than most other states.
• Dynamism produces a long-term job growth advantage.

Talent

• Colorado is transitioning from a state where the skilled workforce was largely male to one which will become significantly more female, as male education attainment drops relative to that of women. Educated men are disproportionately older and retiring, while educated women are disproportionately younger.
• Hispanics and Latinos provide an additional opportunity to replace retiring educated white males with homegrown talent.

Capital

• Small business bank lending in Colorado is above the national average. Various measures of such capital flows rank Colorado consistently in the top third among its peer states.