Workforce and Infrastructure Rank 1 and 2

Last week I wrote about a strong economic ranking Fort Collins earned while also stressing the need to look at some of the underlying data. This week is a story about how states rank as a place to do business.

The study was done by CNBC. It scored all 50 states on 66 metrics in 10 competitiveness categories. You can find the list of rankings here and the related background story here.

Among their findings: workforce and infrastructure are the top issues and the U.S. labor market skills gap is continuing to grow.

Overall the Top 10 states for business are (1-10) Washington, Georgia, Minnesota, Texas, North Carolina, Colorado, Virginia, Utah, Tennessee, and Massachusetts.

Colorado ranked 4th for workforce, 28th for infrastructure, 38th for cost of doing business, 13th for economy, 14th for quality of life, 7th for technology and innovation, 12th for education, 8th for business friendliness, 12th for access to capital and 32 for cost of living.

As always, read this kind of report with a critical eye and a grain of salt so you understand the methodology and how the findings are being interpreted. That said, the emphasis on workforce and infrastructure feel exactly right for our area and state and dovetail nicely with the Chamber’s Northern Colorado Prospers goals.