Colorado is the 16th Best State for Business 2014

Taxations & Regulations

Workforce Quality

Living Environment

Key Metrics
State GDP % Growth ’12-’13: 3.8 % Growth ’11-’12 v. Nat’l Avg. (2.5%): -0.4 Unemployment Unemployment Rate Dec. 2013 %: 6.2 Comparison with Nat’l Rate (6.70%): -0.5 Domestic Migration Domestic Net Migration 2013: 36,284 Rank: 4 State Government State Debt per Capita Fiscal Year ’13 ($): 3,111 State & Local Gov’t Employees per 10k Residents: 541.9 State-Local Tax Burden Rate (%): 9.1% Compared to Nat’l Avg. (9.9%): -0.77%

Key Metrics

State GDP

Unemployment

Domestic Migration

State Government

State-Local Tax Burden

Key Companies
Newmont Mining Liberty Global

Development Trend Indicator: Negative
Business-friendliness gets shaky as state deals with legal-marijuana fallout.

CEO Comments
“With Colorado’s new drug laws, I would definitely hesitate to locate a new business there.” “Colorado is trying to imitate California. We are Colorado headquartered, but the majority of our capital expansion plans will be in Texas.”

Based on CEO Survey by ChiefExecutive.net

Sources:
Bureau of Economic Analysis
Bureau of Labor Statistics
NewGeography.com
The Tax Foundation

J.P. Donlon

J.P. Donlon is Editor Emeritus of Chief Executive magazine.