How is Colorado’s tight labor market affecting your growth?

When scaling up means staffing up, options in Colorado may be in short supply.

Team & Culture
Aug 24, 2017 · 2 min read

By Chris Becze

When it comes to startup activities, Colorado is hot. Colorado was among the top five among 25 largest states by population to play host to startups, according to the 2017 Kauffman Index on Startup Activity. The Kauffman studies look at entrepreneurship and growth startups to analyze data such as rate of startup density and new entrepreneur entrants.

But can these startups find the employees they need to support growth?

Healthy state of entrepreneurship

The Kauffman Index pegged Colorado at the №5 position based on a number of factors including:

· High rate of new entrepreneurs

· High opportunity share of new entrepreneurs

· High startup density

· More 55 to 65 years olds starting up new ventures while fewer 20 to 34 years old are starting up new companies

Colorado entrepreneurship is ahead of New York but behind California, Texas, Florida and Arizona. Overall, national activity has gone up three years in a row, reaching close to the peak before the Great Recession drop.

Challenges to startups

Thirty states saw gains in business startups. That’s good news, right? Until scaling up means staffing up. This is where Colorado could be particularly challenging.

Colorado posted the lowest unemployment rate of any state in the nation in April–2.6 percent as reported by the Denver Business Journal. All seven of Colorado’s metro areas had unemployment rates under the national average of 4.1 percent. Such low unemployment creates challenges for startup and mature companies alike; finding and keeping workers in a market where demand for labor far exceeds supply can stymie growth, profitability, and potential.

As a growth-oriented startup or entrepreneur, what challenges are you facing in Colorado’s low unemployment environment?

Chris Becze is a partner with TaxOps, an award-winning tax and business consulting firm specializing in designing efficient tax solutions for dynamic businesses. Visit TaxOps.com to learn more.

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Team & Culture

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