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Colorado Falls to Lowest Ever CNBC Business Ranking
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The Sum & Substance, Approved, State

Colorado Falls to Lowest Ever CNBC Business Ranking

By Ed Sealover | The Sum & Substance As business leaders warn of an eroding atmosphere, Colorado has plummeted to its lowest spot in the 20-year history of CNBC’s Top States for Business rankings, placing the one-time national model now firmly in the middle of the pack among states. The financial-news network, whose rankings are widely cited by business and economic-development leaders, dropped Colorado this year from No. 11 to No. 25 on its list and noted that it’s now the second-most expensive state for living, behind only California. Though it improved its rankings in technology and innovation versus 2025, the Centennial State fell or remained even in every other category, now ranking in the bottom half of states in areas like business friendliness and infras...
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High Housing Costs Put Colorado Business Growth at Risk
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Colorado Public Radio, Approved, State

High Housing Costs Put Colorado Business Growth at Risk

By Sarah Mulholland | CPR News Colorado’s businesses are at risk of losing their competitive edge to companies in other states and it comes down to whether people can afford to live here, according to a report from the Romer Institute of Evidence-based Policy. The reasons behind the state’s economic headwinds are multifaceted, but one thing is clear. The housing crunch is making it harder to recruit workers, the report found. The analysis looks at Colorado’s economy relative to Arizona, North Carolina, Texas, Utah and Washington. The states were chosen because they overlap Colorado’s economy based on region or industry, and they compete for talent, investment and business location decisions, according to the Denver-based nonprofit policy group that bears the name ...
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Trump Team Launches Major Investigation Into Foreign Labor Visa Fraud
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The Federalist, Approved, National

Trump Team Launches Major Investigation Into Foreign Labor Visa Fraud

By: Hannah Bates | The Federalist The Trump administration started a major investigation into H-1B and PERM foreign labor visas, the Labor Department’s Inspector General Anthony P. D’Esposito announced Wednesday. The investigation aims to take the “most aggressive action against foreign labor fraud by an Inspector General this administration” to further President Trump’s goal to end foreign violence on American soil and return jobs to the American people, D’Esposito told Fox Business. D’Esposito, who is leading the investigation, stated that the department has already begun “issu[ing] dozens of subpoenas.” He also noted that there are “whistleblowers talking about some of the biggest companies” who have abused H1-B and PERM (Permanent Labor Certification) vis...
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Colorado Economy Takes A Hit As Revised Data Shows 11,000 Jobs Lost Over The Last Year
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DENVER7, Approved, State

Colorado Economy Takes A Hit As Revised Data Shows 11,000 Jobs Lost Over The Last Year

By Shannon Ogden | Denver7 Colorado says the state's unemployment rate increased to 3.9 percent in January, while the labor force participation rate dropped to its lowest level since 2020. DENVER — Colorado lost 11,000 nonfarm payroll jobs last year, according to a grim revised jobs report from the Colorado Department of Labor and Employment. Brian Lewandowski, executive director Business Research Division at the Leeds School of Business at CU Boulder, said it is unusual for Colorado to lose jobs outside of recessionary periods. Since 2000, Colorado has only recorded job losses in 2002 and 2003 during the tech burst, 2009 and 2010 during the financial crisis, and in 2020 because of COVID, Lewandowski said. The revised data shows the state lost jobs inst...
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She moved her company to Colorado: Seven months later she decided to leave
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Rocky Mountain Voice, State, Top Stories

She moved her company to Colorado: Seven months later she decided to leave

By Jen Schumann | Rocky Mountain Voice Heather Florio didn’t move her company to Colorado for a short stay. When she arrived in early 2025, she thought she was putting down roots. “We came here… at the beginning of January, 2025 with anticipation of this being our permanent home.” About seven months in, she said the company was having to leave. “We found out that some laws had changed here in the state of Colorado,” Florio said. “Specifically regarding tax thresholds. We’re looking at double the amount of taxes if we stay here. We are unfortunately having to leave my home state.” Florio described that decision in a video from the Southern Colorado Women’s Chamber of Commerce, which was shared with RMV by the Colorado Chamber. https://youtu.be/J0BkXb59iPs?si=du...
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Colorado Audits 1,745 Immigrant CDL Holders After New Federal Restrictions
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The Colorado Sun, State

Colorado Audits 1,745 Immigrant CDL Holders After New Federal Restrictions

By Jennifer Brown | The Colorado Sun The state paused its commercial driver’s license program for immigrants with temporary legal status after a new Trump administration rule Of the 126,525 people in Colorado licensed to drive 18-wheelers, school buses, and trucks carrying hazardous materials, 1,745 are immigrants who do not have permanent legal status to live in the United States.  That number won’t rise anytime soon, if ever.  Colorado paused new licenses and renewals for immigrants without citizenship or green cards after the Trump administration announced “emergency action” in September to drastically restrict who is eligible for commercial driver’s licenses. The new restrictions include refugees, asylum seekers and people protected by DACA, or Deferred Action for Chil...
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Colorado Businesses Warn State Policies Threaten Economic Future
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DENVER7, Approved, State

Colorado Businesses Warn State Policies Threaten Economic Future

By Dan Grossman | Denver7 The sentiment comes from the latest Colorado Businesses Roundtable fall outlook survey and points to Colorado's affordability issues and regulatory environment. DENVER — Colorado businesses said they’re almost twice as worried about our state’s economic future as they are about the nation’s. This is from the Colorado Business Roundtable survey that just came out. The survey asked 50 business executives about what’s concerning them. The responses point toward Colorado’s affordability issues and policies supporting workers. “What we've been seeing over time is really the layering on effect of regulation, rules for businesses that really add a cost of doing business to Colorado,” Colorado Business Roundtable President Debbie Brown said. “When the eco...
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USDA move to Fort Collins could add 6,000 jobs and $1B in output, study finds
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Colorado Politics, Approved, State

USDA move to Fort Collins could add 6,000 jobs and $1B in output, study finds

By Marissa Ventrelli | Colorado Politics The U.S. Department of Agriculture’s planned relocation of up to 2,600 employees to Fort Collins could bring more than $1 billion in new business output and over 6,000 new jobs to the area by the end of next year, according to a study by the think tank Common Sense Institute. In July, Agriculture Secretary Brooke Rollins announced that the department would be relocating up to 2,600 personnel and operations to five new hubs, including Fort Collins. According to CSI study authors Dr. Caitlin McKennie and Cooper Pollard, the move is expected to “stimulate job creation, bolster local businesses, and enhance collaboration with Colorado State University,” which ranks 23rd in the nation for agricultural sciences. Agriculture plays a “vital role...
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Has AI Begun Transforming Employment in the Colorado Legal Services Industry?
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Rocky Mountain Voice, Commentary, State, Top Stories

Has AI Begun Transforming Employment in the Colorado Legal Services Industry?

By Mike O’Donnell | Guest Commentary, Rocky Mountain Voice The two biggest ongoing threats to democracy in Colorado are the less-than-competent Secretary of State, Jena Griswold, and Colorado’s Supreme Court. You will recall that last year both blocked the inclusion of Donald Trump’s name on the November 2024 presidential ballot in Colorado only to have the nation’s Supreme Court definitively overrule both. I didn’t notice anyone getting into trouble or apologizing for those blatant attacks on democracy but it managed to get me thinking (no mean feat) about the legal profession in general and whether it was changing in Colorado in the face of artificial intelligence (AI). Admittedly, I’m personally not a big fan of AI because, just like history, it is crafted by the victors / the ...
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O’Donnell: Colorado isn’t creating jobs—it’s creating unemployment
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Rocky Mountain Voice, Approved, Commentary, State, Top Stories

O’Donnell: Colorado isn’t creating jobs—it’s creating unemployment

By Mike O’Donnell | Guest Commentary, Rocky Mountain Voice  January 2023 was a changeover month of sorts in the United States because it marked a division between the taxpayer subsidized COVID economy and the less subsidized post-COVID economy. According to the latest U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) data, the United States added 3,149,000 jobs between January 2023 and June 2025, a 2.0 percent increase for the nation as a whole.  Employment growth so far this century has averaged just under one percent a year, so the 2.0 percent figure is roughly on track (although preliminary July BLS data are less positive and subject to revision). At the same time, unemployment increased by 1,268,000, a 22.1 percent rise. This is a less positive aspect of the economy that few seem ...
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