By Brian Porter | Rocky Mountain Voice
At one time in Colorado, whether you lived in the high country, the flatlands or anywhere in between, your area code was 303.
Today, there are five area codes in the state, but Senate Joint Resolution 25-008 passed Monday honors the history of the one area code and of Colorado business.
“Today is 3/3, or better yet, 3/03,” Democrat Sen. Jeff Bridges said in announcing the bill on the floor Monday. “What day better than today to celebrate Colorado’s small businesses.”
The resolution naming March 3, 2025, as “Buy Colorado Day” and March 3-10 as “Buy Colorado Week” notes the 700,000 small businesses employing 1.2 million and the nine Fortune 500 companies calling the state home. The resolution fails to note the state has one of the most challenging business environments in America, being ranked the sixth-most regulated state in the country.
Still, Americans know Colorado for such household items as Crocs shoes, Coors beer and the Polar bottle.
“We sold it to Target. We sold it to Walmart. We also sold it to small retailers,” said Democrat Sen. Judy Amabile, who noted her prior employment with Polar Bottle. “I went to Spain and there was a teeny, tiny business that had a Polar bottle.”
She notes that the 700,000 businesses in existence throughout the state make doing business locally in Colorado easier for one another.
The resolution gives Colorado credit as “the first home” for items other states might contest, like the cowboy hat. It is true John B. Stetson “invented” the cowboy hat for friends in his about one year in Colorado, but it is his factory in Philadelphia, Penn., where the hat gained mass popularity. When the Texas Rangers became the first organization to make the hat part of their uniform and with it already having popularity in the state, the cowboy hat also became synonymous with Texas.
Colorado is also home to more than 100 craft distilleries — the sixth most of any state — with more than 400 craft breweries generating more than $2.4 billion in economic impact, the resolution reads.
Also, the resolution notes the $47 billion in annual agricultural commodities generated in the state, ranging from cattle, dairy, sheep and lambs, wool, alfalfa, potatoes, cantaloupes, onions, apples, peaches, grapes, lemons and more. In Weld County, the state’s leading ag county, $2.2 billion is annually derived from ag commodities.
“Whatever you want to buy, you can probably find a Colorado company making it,” Bridges said.
The resolution, earning unanimous support in the Senate chamber, encourages Coloradans “this week, today and every day,” to support Colorado business.