Weekly News from COBRT
LEADERSHIP. REACH. RESULTS.
October 10, 2017
Supporting Today's Workers and Preparing the Workforce of Tomorrow
The Consulate General of Canada in Denver, the Office of the Governor of Colorado, and the Colorado Business Roundtable hosted an event addressing urgent issues in Colorado and Canada: supporting displaced workers and preparing the workforce of the future in a transforming economy. 
The Leeds Business Confidence Index (LBCI) fell ahead of the fourth quarter of 2017, reflecting lower expectations for both the end of the year and the first quarter of 2018 despite all individual components of the index remaining in positive territory. The overall index came in at 56.5 for Q4 2017 and 55.3 for Q1 2018 (Note: an index value of 50 equals neutral).

The report, which is prepared by CU Boulder's Business Research Division at the Leeds School of Business, captures Colorado business leaders' expectations for the national economy, state economy, industry sales, profits, hiring plans and capital expenditures. A total of 284 qualified panelists responded to the survey.

Hosted by Colorado State University-Global Campus, Colorado Business Roundtable, and the Business-Higher Education Forum. We will be discussing cybersecurity and skills for the future. 

This roundtable is Friday, October 13th from 11:30 am to 1:00 pm at Colorado State University-Global Campus in Greenwood Village. Lunch will be provided. 

The team behind Colorado's official bid for Amazon's second headquarters narrowed potential locations to eight and is feverishly working to complete its proposal to persuade the Seattle retailer to pick the Denver area.

"We screened nearly 30 sites and reviewed over 400 documents to determine the sites that met and exceeded the eligibility of the RFP (request for proposal)," said Sam Bailey, vice president of economic development for Metro Denver Economic Development Corp. "Ultimately, we identified eight viable sites across metro Denver that enhance our competitiveness. We would have diluted our position providing every site submitted."

President Donald Trump laid out his immigration principles for Capitol Hill on Sunday - a list of hardline policies that could seriously complicate the prospects of striking a deal with Democrats over the future of hundreds of thousands of young undocumented immigrants. 

When Colorado submits its bid this month for Amazon HQ2, the proposal will emphasize the region's highly educated workforce, quality of life and global connectivity through its international airport.

"We are not the biggest incentive state - and we won't do anything differently for Amazon than we would for any other company that is looking to locate here," J.J. Ament, president and CEO of the Metro Denver Economic Development Corp., told me Thursday.

Coloradans in Florida for a satellite launch pose near the Orion Spacecraft
CACI has joined the newly launched, bipartisan organization called the Coalition for Regulatory Innovation (CRI). The CRI is a bold new initiative that brings together a broad coalition of groups from across the country, led by organized labor and manufacturing companies, and includes stakeholders from many industries that are focused on reducing the excessive red tape that prevents the creation of new American jobs.

Colorado breweries won 38 medals Saturday on closing day of the Great American Beer Festival in Denver, with many of the most-sought-after honors going to newer and more under-the-radar breweries rather than the largest and most celebrated breweries that typically have headlined the awards count at the nation's largest beer festival. 

Please join New American Economy to help find a solution to DACA
Given the latest news and actions on DACA, these next six months will be absolutely critical for finding a solution to DACA and with immigration reform at large. New American Economy is working to grow our state coalition in Colorado and it's really important that we remain engaged as legislation gets introduced in Congress. As we work to grow our coalition, we want to ensure that you have a resource to receive the latest updates on immigration, and have access to a supportive platform and research to effectively advocate for the economic reasons for reform. Joining our coalition is easy, and moving forward you would be included in all coalition communications and updates. Anything we work on would be a collaborative effort, and not all coalition members are able to participate in all of our activities. But we'd love to partner with you and discuss opportunities to help move the ball forward on improving the outlook of immigration reform in Congress.


House Adoption of Budget Resolution Moves Congress Toward Tax Reform
Business Roundtable on Thursday commented that the House's adoption of a FY 2018 budget resolution with reconciliation instructions is a critical step that will help Congress move forward on tax-reform legislation.

"The Senate must take action to approve its resolution and come together with the House to agree upon reconciliation instructions that will enable Congress to pass pro-growth tax reform," President & CEO Joshua Bolten said in a statement. "America's competitiveness, American jobs and wage growth are at stake."

The House approved the resolution,
H.Con.Res.71, by a vote of 219-206.

Four of Colorado's most innovative and successful schools were recognized as inaugural winners at The Succeeds Prize on Tuesday, a first-of-its-kind awards celebration for public educators. The schools - Valdez Elementary School, Mountain Vista Community School, DSST Green Valley Ranch High School, and Bristol Elementary School - were selected by an accomplished panel of experts representing the education, government, and business communities for their transformational impact and excellence.

The Succeeds Prize, a partnership between 9NEWS and Colorado Succeeds and powered by mindSpark Learning, is the state's most prestigious awards and recognition event. Colorado Gov. John Hickenlooper, Lt. Gov. Donna Lynne, and former governors Bill Ritter and Bill Owens served as honorary co-hosts. The winners were announced Tuesday evening at a live-reveal celebration at the Newman Center for the Performing Arts at the University of Denver.

Please join us on December 7th from 11:30 am to 1:30 pm in helping recognize leaders in Colorado and come listen to our keynote speaker, Jim Clifton, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of Gallup, discuss his view of business collaboration. Early bird registration is available for the awards luncheon until October 15th.  
Colorado's talent development network must accelerate its shift to competency-based, work-based career pathways for critical occupations. We have proven Colorado to be a peak collaborator when all key players convene at a shared table. This Summit is where we will take the best practices already in place and create clearly defined next steps to expand their adoption across all partners throughout the state. Together, we can strengthen the talent development network, accelerating work-based learning through industry-led, competency-based hiring, education, and training. 

Join talentFOUND on October 15th, 10:00 am to October 17th, 1:00 pm in Keystone, CO. 
Amazon recently made the day of chamber and economic development officials around the country when it announced plans to open a second corporate headquarters somewhere in North America. Communities are now busy preparing bids for the project, which many speculate will create a spirited competition to out-tax-break and out-incentivize each other to attract a headquarters with as many as 50,000 high-paying, quality jobs. 

I encourage Jeff Bezos and Amazon to choose Colorado for what they're calling HQ2. And I suggest that they not demand a king's ransom in return. 

Join corporate leaders and energy experts to learn how businesses are using clean energy to cut costs and manage risk. Businesses throughout the U.S. are turning to clean energy to cut electricity costs and hedge against increasing demand rates. For many businesses, electricity prices represent a significant overhead cost category. The average U.S. office building spends more than $30,000 annually on energy, including gas. Increasilty, corporates are deploying clean energy solutions to manage risk and provide predictable, long-term energy pricing. 

The Clean Energy Means Business Corporate Summit, presented by the Colorado Solar Energy Industries Association (COSEIA), will bring together leaders in the business community and clean energy experts from throughout the Mountain West to collaborate and share insights on corporate clean energy development. In this two-day event you will learn the latest innovative strategies for effectively managing energy costs with clean energy solutions. 

Registration is discounted through promo code PARTNER20 for a 20% discount on the COSEIA member registration rate. 

Today there are close to 9,000 youth in the Denver metro area who are talented and motivated, but lack the opportunity and support to reconnect to school and work. Generally 16 to 24 years old, they're called opportunity youth. We call them tomorrow's business leaders and innovators. We've all faced challenges in our career - and always had someone to lend a hand. At the Denver Opportunity Youth Initiative we help young adults overcome those challenges. And we connect employers with these talented youth.

Learn more:
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
See all at our events page and use this contact form to add yours!
 Colorado Energy and Manufacturing Forum - Consumer Energy Alliance and COBRT

  Colorado's Financial Services Talent Imperative - Colorado State University-Global Campus, COBRT, and The Business-Higher Education Forum


The New Higher Education Paradigm: Retaining and Upskilling Your Employees - Colorado State University-Global Campus and COBRT

Colorado Crowdfunding Forum - University of Colorado Denver Business School

10/30-31/2017
25th Fall Conference & Exhibition - Colorado Nonprofit Association

11/7/2017 - 11/8/2017
Clean Energy Means Business Corporate Summit - Colorado Solar Energy Industries Association

11/9/2017
2017 Annual Meeting & Luncheon - Colorado Oil & Gas Association

11/16/2017
4th Annual Legislative Reception - Colorado Business Roundtable

11/17/2017
2017 Annual Luncheon - Denver South Economic Development Partnership

12/6/2017
 2017 CSBR Roundup - Colorado Space Business Roundtable

12/7/2017

12/11/2017
Colorado Business Economic Outlook 2018 Forum - University of Colorado Boulder


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