Colorado’s job-growth ranking fell 30 places in a single year, and a new state panel just handed Gov. Jared Polis a 19-point plan it says can help turn that slide around. The Governor’s Competitiveness Council released its policy roadmap Wednesday, aiming to make the state’s business climate more attractive to employers at a moment when officials are watching economic momentum cool.
According to the Denver Gazette, the council is a recently established public-private partnership led by business and economic leaders from across Colorado. Polis said he has received the council’s roadmap and recommendations and plans to review them, considering how the document might be used to support homegrown businesses, attract new companies and strengthen the state’s economy, the outlet reported.
How the Roadmap Came Together
The council was formed to bring together business, labor, education and investors to recommend ways to streamline regulation and strengthen Colorado’s economy, per the Gazette’s report. Polis launched the effort in July 2026 to develop what the paper described as a collaborative long-term vision for national business competitiveness and a leading statewide economy and innovation ecosystem.
Membership includes the Denver Metro Chamber of Commerce, the Colorado Business Roundtable and the state Office of Economic Development and International Trade, the Gazette reported. To gather input, the council held seven listening sessions across Colorado that drew more than 490 participants representing 60 industries. The University of Colorado Leeds School of Business also analyzed economic competitiveness indicators to help identify the state’s advantages and the threats facing its future growth, according to the same report.
Nineteen Recommendations, From Permits to Payroll Taxes
The roadmap’s 19 recommendations touch several corners of the state’s regulatory landscape. They include broad regulatory reforms, a push to streamline the construction permitting process, and a simplified sales and use tax system, the Gazette reported. The council also recommended expanding workforce-training incentives such as Opportunity Now and Skill Advance.
Chris Romer, president and CEO of Vail Valley Partnership, said the report offers a practical path to strengthen business competitiveness through predictable rules, faster permitting, and investment in workforce and housing, according to the Gazette. Romer added that successful businesses support good jobs, essential public services and community vitality, the outlet reported.
A Slipping Jobs Picture Driving Urgency
The roadmap lands against a backdrop of softening labor-market numbers. Colorado’s employment-growth ranking fell 30 places from 2024 to 2025, per the Metro Denver Economic Council’s figures cited by the Gazette, landing the state at 46th nationally in employment growth for 2025. Colorado also ranks 38th nationally for cost of doing business, per the Colorado Chamber, the Gazette reported.
Those figures echo a broader slowdown documented by the Denver Post, which reported that Colorado’s nonfarm employment fell by 9,100 positions from its June 2024 peak to 2,970,800 jobs by June 2026. The Post also found that Colorado’s labor force shrank by nearly 81,000 people from its October 2024 peak to 3,193,263 workers in June 2026 — a loss the paper described as occurring over 20 months.
The tech sector has felt an especially sharp hit. The Post reported that Colorado’s information-sector employment stood 19% below its June 2022 peak as of June 2026, a steeper drop than the 11% decline seen nationally. Eve Lieberman, director of the Colorado Office of Economic Development and International Trade, said Colorado’s technology sectors still attract business growth, investment and top talent, even as competition and headwinds increase, according to the Gazette. Lieberman said the council can help address those challenges and support Colorado companies’ growth, innovation and good-paying jobs, according to the Gazette.
Where Colorado Still Stands Nationally
Despite the warning signs, Colorado has not fallen out of the top tier of state economies. A separate analysis covered by Colorado Politics, drawing on Common Sense Institute data, found Colorado ranked seventh nationally in overall economic performance and seventh in healthcare, trailing top performer New Hampshire. The state also improved to 17th nationally in free-enterprise competitiveness, up from 29th in 2022, that reporting found.
Still, the same analysis flagged housing affordability as Colorado’s largest competitiveness challenge. It ranked the state 50th out of 51, counting Washington, D.C., in housing competitiveness. Colorado Politics noted that while the state remains among the nation’s top-performing economies, several indicators suggest its competitive momentum is beginning to slow relative to peer states, a tension the new council’s roadmap appears designed to confront head-on as Polis weighs his next move.
