cultural amenities, and four professional
sports teams, and it’s no wonder employees
across the U.S. are clamoring to relocate
here. There’s a lot to love.
Thousands of acres of open space and one
of the largest public parks systems in the
United States give employees and their families the chance to hike, bike, and snowshoe
right in their own backyards. To top it off,
the ski slopes and quaint mountain towns
are just a short drive away.
STATE AND FEDERAL
SUPPORT
State and local government support also
encourages Denver’s business growth. The
U.S. Department of Labor awarded the
Denver region and Northern Colorado area
a four-year, $15 million Workforce Innovation in Regional Economic Development
(WIRED) grant in 2006.
The project’s goal was to transform workforce
development in the region by bringing more
highly skilled workers to the area’s fastest
growing industries, which included aerospace,
bioscience, energy and information technology. The project has proven successful in
making the area a destination for employee
relocation and expanding business.
The Colorado Department of Transportation
has spent hundreds of millions of dollars on
projects in the last few years. The Regional
Transportation District’s FasTracks project
will connect the metro Denver region with
122 miles of new commuter and 18 miles of
bus rapid transit, with four rail lines anticipated to be open by 2016.
Additionally, several Colorado Workforce
Centers are located throughout the region,
leaving employers well supported with
recruitment assistance and employees with a
rich resource for job search tools, job placement and training opportunities.
MAJOR INDUSTRIES
A cross-section of industries make up the
employment base in Metro Denver, with
eight industry clusters targeted for growth
and expansion in the near future. The
nine-county metro Denver and Northern
Colorado regions depend on these diverse
industries for economic growth.
Aerospace: Colorado comes in second
place among the 50 states for private aerospace employment concentration. More
than 58,000 private sector workers and military personnel worked in aerospace in 2013.
Four military commands, eight major space
contractors and more than 300 aerospace
companies and suppliers call Colorado home.
Aviation: Aviation companies in Colorado
employ more than 15,910 workers, many
at Denver International Airport and three
reliever airports. The metro region ranks 11th
among the nation’s 50 largest metro areas for
aviation employment concentration.
Bioscience: The Denver metro region’s
bioscience businesses employ 4,780 biotechnology and pharmaceuticals workers and
10,310 workers in medical device and instrument production. Fitzsimons Life Science
District and the Anschutz Medical Campus
in Aurora, along with ten other local higher
education institutions, offer bioscience
programs and research assets.
Broadcasting and Telecommunications: Its
location in the Mountain Time Zone is a boon
to Denver’s broadcasting and telecommuni-
cations industries. Denver is located in the
largest U.S. region with one-bounce satellite
uplinks, giving companies real-time connec-
tions to six of seven continents. The city has
a mix of broadcasting and telecommunica-
tions companies, and the region ranked sixth
out of the biggest 50 metro areas for employ-
ment concentration in these industries in 2013.
2,560 broadcasting and telecommunications
companies directly employ 40,640 workers in
the Denver area.
Energy: Denver’s location in the Rocky
Mountain region, which contains abundant
natural resources, makes it a key player in
the energy industry. Fossil fuel production
booms in the area, with large concentrations
of coal, oil, and natural gas. Energy research
and clean technology are also major players
in the region, including research into renewable energy and energy efficiency. The metro
area has key energy research facilities that
attract clean tech manufacturers and suppliers.
Fossil fuel and clean tech companies together
employ more than 46,940 people, and the state
ranks fifth nationally for clean technology jobs
and 10th for fossil fuel energy jobs.
Financial Services: Denver is sometimes
called “the Wall Street of the West,” because
it’s one of the few areas in the country other
than the Northeast that has a thriving financial
services industry in three important segments:
banking and finance, investments, and insurance. The region’s diverse financial service
industry includes more than 13,700 companies that employ close to 90,000 employees.
Health and Wellness: The Denver metro
area’s health industry grew at the amazing
rate of 20 percent between 2008 and 2013,
making it one of the fastest growing in the U.S.
182,320 employees work for more than 18,500
companies, a major benefit to the region’s
overall economic growth.
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