Weekly News from COBRT
LEADERSHIP. REACH. RESULTS.
April 4, 2017
KEY ISSUES RADIO/PODCAST VIDEOS EVENTS CONTACT
 Education & Workforce

Vistage Colorado and COBRT were honored to welcome Sacunas' CEO Adam Vasquez for his presentation on The Next Generation of B2B.

Millennials are igniting a transformation in B2B sales & marketing and becoming key purchase decision makers. In this session, we'll share results of our study of 2,000 millennial B2B buyers and learn what drives their B2B path to purchase behaviors.

From Facebook to Glassdoor, Adam discussed the channels and content types that matter to millennials, exploring why this group is digital by default, socially savvy, and engaged with cause marketing. As this data impacts the evolution of B2B, we'll give insights on transforming your business to attract and retain millennial buyers. 

 
Check out the event photos, the radio/podcast, and the PDF report here

The 2017 Western Pathways Conference is uniquely focused on an issue central to the future of our economy and society: how can we build an education and workforce development system that will prepare ALL young adults for careers leading to economic independence? 

This will be an action oriented conference in which teams from the participating states will work together to develop plans for addressing such issues as the skills gap, strengthening connections between business and education, providing high-quality career development and career pathways, and much more. 

The Western Pathways Conference will attract national leaders from business, education, government and philanthropy to share knowledge, experience, ideas, and best practices.The Conference is organized and hosted by the Global Pathways Institute at Arizona State University in partnership with the Colorado Business Roundtable, Education Commission of the States, Western Interstate Commission on Higher Education, and Business-Higher Education Forum .

Technology
During  Recode's Code  Conference last year, Elon Musk discussed the sci-fi concept of a "Neural Lace" while describing potential solutions to the potential dangers posed by advancing artificial intelligence technology. Watch the Recode video here

Now it seems that the serial entrepreneur is taking the matter more seriously as a new venture called Neuralink. Details are scarce at this point, though his twitter activity indicates more information will be coming soon.

Read The Economist's article
Economic Development
Federally funded research facilities in Colorado contributed an estimated $2.6 billion to the state's economy in 2016 and supported more than 17,600 jobs, according to a new report from the University of Colorado Boulder Leeds School of Business.
 
The report- Economic and Fiscal Impacts of Federally Funded Research Facilities in Colorado, FY2013-FY2015-also shows how 33 federally funded laboratories help make Colorado a national center for research and innovation.


International Business 
 
The COBRT is honored to be partnering with The Consulate General of Canada and World Trade
Center Denver
 for an ongoing discussion "Trading Nations: United States, Canada, and the Future of Commerce." 

Mayor Hancock met with a group lunch to start this ongoing discussion.

Learn more here
Boulder tech community thought leaders met with the Björn Lyrvall, Swedish Ambassador to the United States. The meeting covered the many advantages of the Colorado start-up ecosystem for foreign and domestic entrepreneurs.

The Ambassador was impressed by the level of start-up activity and opportunity for a wide range of tech sectors, and he pointed out similarities to the Stockholm tech scene.


Read more here

Also check out COBRT's Connect & Collaborate Radio show with Ambassador Björn Lyrvall, President of  Business Beyond Borders Paul Kullman, and Honorary Consul for Sweden to Colorado, Wyoming and New Mexico Don Peterson

Listen here
P. Alejandro Diaz
CC photo by P. Alejandro Diaz
Frontier Airlines has filed paperwork to once again trade its shares on the public market, the first initial public offering by a U.S. airline in more than three years.
 
The Denver-based airline's parent company,  Frontier Group Holdings Inc.filed a registration statement Friday with the Securities and Exchange Commission for an IPO.

  Read more in the Denver Business Journal (story by Mark Harden)
The U.S. economy expanded by 2.1 percent in Q4 (revised), bringing annual GDP growth in 2016 to 1.6 percent - well below the 30-year average growth rate of 2.6 percent. 

Growth this quarter was held down by negative net exports, which subtracted 1.8 percentage points (revised) from GDP, as steady consumer spending, solid investment, and tepid government spending all made positive contributions. ( See Bureau of Economic Analysis release  .) Will prospects for tax reform boost business investment and accelerate GDP growth in the coming months?

For more analysis, see The Top Line PDF online here.



Colorado Business Roundtable's Inner Circle gives our members access to the Colorado's top business women and men. #COBRTInnerCircle members share their leadership lessons and invite you to learn more about them and their organizations. We've be adding new members every week, so stay tuned in the newsletter and on social media as the COBRT Inner Circle continues to expand

Since 2012 Tom Bugnitz has been CEO of Manufacturer's Edge, the Colorado Manufacturing Extension Partner of the U.S. Department of Commerce.  Tom has over 35 years of broad experience in strategic planning, operations and financial oversight.

He holds both an MBA and Bachelor of Science in Applied Mathematics and Computer Science from Washington University in St. Louis.


Listen at KDMT 1690 AM Denver's Money Talk from 
4-5 p.m. Monday through Friday or  live stream online. Podcasts are available at  www.cobrt.com/radio and on your favorite podcast app the day after live airing.

Stream or Download These  Recent Episodes
March 27 - Denver Area Boy Scouts Council - Sports Breakfast
March 28 - Jay Lindell - Space Symposium
March 29 - Why Rural Matters - GlobalMindED
March 30 - Adam Vasquez, Sacunas CEO -  Millenial Impact on B2B

See all at our events page and use this contact form to add yours!
4/4  --  4/11
Goldman Sachs 10,000 Small Businesses at Babson College: The National Cohort (Info Session)

4/3 - 4/6/17
33rd Space Symposium - The Space Foundation

4/5/17
Colorado Business Education Coalition (Meeting in Colorado Springs)


4/7/17
  Manufacturer's Edge - First Friday Manufacturing WebinarGrow Your Company through Technology Innovation, Market Diversification and New Product Development 


4/11/17

5/5/17
Manufacturer's Edge - First Friday WebinarImpactful Use of Lean in the Office  

5/11 - 5/13
Western Pathways 2017

5/16/17
44th Annual World Trade Day


FOLLOW #COBRT
Produced for COBRT by