Study: Colorado manufacturing on the rise
Next year, it’s expected 2,300 manufacturing jobs will be added across the state.
Manufacturing employment is expected to grow next year by 1.7 percent, or around 2,300 jobs, according to an economic forecast by the University of Colorado’s business school.
The only sub-sectors of manufacturing that aren’t predicted to do so well are fabricated metals and computer electronics, according to the report, which is released by CU each year and features contributors from the state and various consulting companies.
Manufacturing is a $23 billion industry across the state, making up approximately 7.3 percent of Colorado’s GDP. Additionally, 6.3 percent of Colorado’s workforce works in manufacturing — 141,530 workers at nearly 5,800 manufacturing facilities across the state, according to the study.
Interestingly, almost 80 percent of manufacturing businesses in Colorado have fewer than 20 employees. But CU’s report says that shouldn’t be a real shocker, as 90 percent of Colorado businesses have less than 20 employees.
That means that the big issues impacting manufacturing are doing so in Colorado, but on a much smaller scale. One example the report points out is technology.
“While technology is in uencing the Manufacturing Sector in Colorado, small manufacturers in the state often are not able to make large technology investments. As a result, the major technological shifts associated with robots, 3D printing, and the like are affecting Colorado manufactur- ers on a more limited basis.”
In Pueblo, Vestas announced in September it would add 108 jobs at its Pueblo plant to implement knew technology that will eventually replace workers.
The technology being implemented into the plant will allow a machine to fit very specific parts together, PULP reported after the announcement. Now, as workers do the highly-technical and labor-intensive job, Knopp said there is a high chance for injury, and thus high turnover.
So, what should Southern Colorado expect from manufacturing in 2017? That’s difficult to say. The report breaks the state down by region, but the Southern Colorado excerpt really only covers El Paso County, which economically is more aligned with the Front Range than it is with places such as Pueblo, Alamosa and Trinidad.
