FIFTY-FIFTH ANNUAL COLORADO BUSINESS ECONOMIC OUTLOOK 2020 Additional copies may be ordered from: Business Research Division University of Colorado Boulder 420 UCB Boulder, CO 80309-0420 colorado.edu/business/brd ISBN 978-0-89478-031-8 Copyright 2019 by the Business Research Division Leeds School of Business University of Colorado Boulder Boulder, CO 80309-0420 The University of Colorado Boulder is an equal opportunity/nondiscrimination institution. Information in this book is correct at the time of printing but may be subject to change. Material contained within the accompanying tables is in the public domain and, with appropriate credit, may be reproduced without permission. Please reference, “Business Research Division, Leeds School of Business, University of Colorado Boulder.” Printed on recycled paper. The 2020 Colorado Business Economic Outlook Forum is sponsored in part by: Leeds 2019 Angel Partners Table of Contents Leeds School of Business .................................................................................................... 2 Other Services ...................................................................................................... 107 Introduction ... ...................................................................................................................... 3 Government .......................................................................................................... 108 Colorado Then and Now .................................................................................................... 4 International Trade ..............................................................................................113 U.S. Economic Outlook ...................................................................................................... 6 Summary ...............................................................................................................118 Colorado Economic, Employment, and Population Outlook ....................................... 8 Around the Region ..............................................................................................120 Agriculture ............................................................................................................ 16 Around the State Natural Resources and Mining .......................................................................... 21 Boulder County ...................................................................................122 Kit Carson County ..............................................................................124 Construction ........................................................................................................ 31 La Plata County ...................................................................................125 Manufacturing ...................................................................................................... 36 Mesa County ........................................................................................126 Trade, Transportation, and Utilities .................................................................. 43 Northern Colorado .............................................................................129 Information........................................................................................................... 50 Pueblo County .....................................................................................130 Southern Colorado ..............................................................................131 Financial Activities .............................................................................................. 59 Steering Committee Members ...........................................................................................134 Professional and Business Services .................................................................... 75 Estimating Groups ..............................................................................................................135 Education and Health Services .......................................................................... 84 Leisure and Hospitality ....................................................................................... 95 2020 Colorado Business Economic Outlook Leeds School of Business Dear Business Colleagues, #1 It’s an exciting time at the Leeds School of Business. Our #1 Business School in Colorado undergraduate business program was recently named in the Top 20 in U.S. News & World Report’s 2020 Best Undergraduate Business Programs at public universities, our incoming freshman class is the best we’ve ever seen in terms of academic preparedness, and we’ve #10 in Entrepreneurship met our 90%+ placement goal for our graduates for the fifth year #10 Full-Time MBA Program in a row. Our faculty and students are focused on transforming the Bloomberg Businessweek (2018) future of global business. These achievements are the result of our unique combination of academic excellence and connection to one of the nation’s most vibrant business communities. In terms of academic #20 #20 Best Public Undergraduate Business Program excellence, we have attracted top faculty talent from universities such as Stanford, Berkeley, U.S. News & World Report (2020) Duke and Northwestern to inspire and educate our students and create impactful research that is helping businesses like yours. Strong partnerships with you—our nationally recognized, innovative business #24 in the world community—are mission-critical to us. Our goal is to ensure we provide high-quality Leeds’ faculty per-capita research ranking talent to be your organization’s next generation of leaders. For example, our Career Impact Top 25 initiative works with key business leaders, locally and globally, to understand the essential skills and attributes that future business professionals need. The insights we’ve learned have already informed new innovations in our curriculum and programs. Additionally, we Our freshman class: 29.6 ACT average, 46% have seen great momentum in our End the Gap initiative, aimed at achieving 50% female Class of women, 28.8% students of color and 13.7% enrollment across all programs, which helps us contribute the finest, diverse candidates to 2023 first-generation students drive your organizations forward. Another integral part of our efforts to deliver the talent our region needs is the partnership we’ve formed with the College of Engineering and Applied Sciences and our joint building 90+% 90+% career placement within 3 months of expansion, which broke ground this past spring. This first-of-its-kind physical connection graduating – 5 years in a row! between Business and Engineering, and the direct link it facilitates to our dynamic business community, positions us to better prepare future generations of leaders to drive meaningful change in the world. This unprecedented partnership will shape interactions between the worlds of business and technology in a way that will differentiate us and elevate our schools July ’18-’19: 795 Leeds faculty news mentions and campus for decades to come. The grand opening will be in spring 2021. (up 85%) We are delighted to share this 55th annual economic outlook with you, as part of our commitment to provide you with important access to our world-class research. We hope the forecast is positive for your business in the year ahead. MBA & MS 7 specialized graduate programs for working professionals Warm regards, Sharon Matusik, Dean 2 2020 Colorado Business Economic Outlook Introduction My sincerest thanks go to Brian Lewandowski, associate he Business Research Divi- this series of meetings, the sector write-ups and forecasts director; Jake Dubbert, research economist; Cindy DiPer- sion (BRD) in the Leeds are prepared and submitted to the BRD in early Novem- T sio, project coordinator; Kristin Weber, graphic designer; School of Business is proud ber, when they are edited and published in this book. The Denise Munn, Senior Print Production Manager; and to present our 55th annual following July, the Steering Committee, which is made James Donahue, Chad Fredrick, Rachel Long, and Anna Colorado Business Economic up of the sector chairs, meets to review their forecasts Sernka, student research assistants, for their help in Outlook. This 2020 consensus and identify factors that will positively or negatively drive assembling and presenting the 2020 Colorado Business forecast is a product of partner- change in their industry’s economic performance during Economic Outlook Forum. The assistance provided ships with individuals spanning the second half of the year. These updates are published in by Leeds School staff Laurel Page, assistant director of numerous universities, busi- the summer issue of our quarterly newsletter, the Colorado Advancement Event Experiences; and Trisha McKean, nesses, nonprofits, and govern- Business Review. assistant dean of advancement, is greatly appreciated. The ment entities. These individuals Related Economic Research Leeds Marketing and Communications team—execu- generously gift their time, shar- tive director Amber Hickory and team members Justin ing their unique expertise and The BRD conducts customized business and economic Forbis, Anneli Gray, Tiffany Harbrecht, Brad Haynes, perspectives about people, industry, and policy relating research that expands the knowledge base of decision Erik Jeffries, Danica Johnson, Christopher Perez, and to the state of Colorado. makers throughout the state and region. The annual