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Colorado Secretary of State Q1 2025 Indicators Report

Erik William Jeffries — Sun, 04 May 2025 23:19:29 +0000

Colorado Secretary of State Q1 2025 Indicators Report Erik William J… Sun, 05/04/2025 - 17:19

The quarterly count of new entity filings increased from Q1 2024 to Q1 2025 and the quarter-over-quarter change was impacted by the usual Q1 seasonality. Existing entity renewals were up over the quarter, but down over the year.

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The Leeds Business Confidence Index (LBCI) Q2 2025

Erik William Jeffries — Mon, 31 Mar 2025 21:54:01 +0000

The Leeds Business Confidence Index (LBCI) Q2 2025 Erik William J… Mon, 03/31/2025 - 15:54

Business confidence took the second-steepest dive ahead of Q2 2025, resting at the third-lowest level in the 23-year history of the Leeds Business Confidence Index (LBCI). The reason for the pessimism can largely be summarized due to the uncertainty surrounding new federal policies. Reversing gains measured in Q1 2025, all components of the LBCI posted year-over-year and over-the-quarter declines ahead of Q2 2025.

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Colorado Secretary of State Q4 2024 Indicators Report

Erik William Jeffries — Mon, 27 Jan 2025 13:22:15 +0000

Colorado Secretary of State Q4 2024 Indicators Report Erik William J… Mon, 01/27/2025 - 06:22

New entity filings in Q4 2024 decreased 0.4% year-over-year and 1.9% quarter-over-quarter. The seasonal decrease from Q3 to Q4 occurred at a slower-than-average rate.

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Colorado Business Review, Issue 1, 2025

Kelsey Cipolla — Fri, 24 Jan 2025 18:59:11 +0000

Colorado Business Review, Issue 1, 2025 Kelsey Cipolla Fri, 01/24/2025 - 11:59

Employment in Colorado is estimated to have increased 1.6%, or 46,800 jobs, in 2024, and the state is projected to add 36,700 jobs in 2025, pushing the economy to new peaks.

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The Leeds Business Confidence Index (LBCI) Q1 2025

Kelsey Cipolla — Tue, 07 Jan 2025 12:00:22 +0000

The Leeds Business Confidence Index (LBCI) Q1 2025 Kelsey Cipolla Tue, 01/07/2025 - 05:00

Business confidence took one of the most neutral looks in the history of the LBCI as panelists weigh new looming policy. All components of the Leeds Business Confidence Index (LBCI) posted year-over-year and over-the-quarter gains ahead of Q1 2025. The new presidential administration, tariffs, and interest rates were commonly cited as the primary reason for panelists’ responses.

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The Leeds Business Confidence Index (LBCI) Q4 2024

Erik William Jeffries — Mon, 30 Sep 2024 21:02:57 +0000

The Leeds Business Confidence Index (LBCI) Q4 2024 Erik William J… Mon, 09/30/2024 - 15:02

Download The Leeds Business Confidence Index (LBCI) Q4 2024

Business confidence took a step back ahead of Q4 as panelists process uncertainty, notably around the election. Confidence rebounded to positive territory looking an additional quarter out to Q1 2025. All components of the Leeds Business Confidence Index (LBCI) posted year-over-year gains ahead of Q4 2024, but all components slipped quarter-over-quarter. The upcoming election, interest rates, and inflation were commonly cited as the primary reason for panelists’ responses.

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Colorado Secretary of State Q2 2024 Indicators Report

Erik William Jeffries — Mon, 12 Aug 2024 21:12:14 +0000

Colorado Secretary of State Q2 2024 Indicators Report Erik William J… Mon, 08/12/2024 - 15:12

New entity filings in Q2 2024 decreased 21.7% year-over-year and 4.7% quarter-over-quarter. Business filing renewals were also down for the quarter. Colorado’s labor market remained tight in the second quarter. Colorado’s job opening rate ranked 15th-highest nationally in May, and the ratio of job openings to the number of unemployed individuals remained above the national average (1.4 versus 1.2). Colorado continued to record growth in jobs and income.

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Working with Colorado, for Colorado—and Its Future

Anonymous — Thu, 11 Apr 2024 17:02:19 +0000

Working with Colorado, for Colorado—and Its Future Anonymous (not verified) Thu, 04/11/2024 - 11:02

The Business Research Division has served communities across the state for more than 100 years.

When you read the business forecast report published annually by the Business Research Division (BRD) at the Leeds School of Business, you’ll see data points from every corner and pocket of Colorado. It represents the business landscape in its entirety—small, family-owned restaurants and farms, to global corporations and every business venture between.

To contribute to the state’s economic prosperity and thriving business community, BRD makes a deliberate effort to provide every sector with the tools they need to be successful.

“We feel that the University of Colorado is an extremely important part of the state economy, and we think it is extremely important that we analyze the economy, and we give people actionable information so that they can lead better lives through education,” said Richard Wobbekind, Leeds associate dean of business and government relations and senior economist. “What we're doing is taking the information we produce to the people.”

Leeds’ BRD has been around for more than a century, nearly as long as the business school itself. From its inception, the division prioritized community engagement—its work is co-created with the Colorado communities it serves.

“It is a long-running unit within this school of business that was really designed to interface with the broader business community in terms of both presenting material and doing research projects,” Wobbekind said.

“Beyond doing individual projects for companies or local governments and forecasting projects like the annual outlook report, more broadly we disseminate our information in a wide variety of channels and a lot of that information is available for free on our website. In many ways, it is about the access to trusted business information.”

They're working on an economic dashboard that lives on the site that provides a barometer of key economic indicators in the state, with an emphasis on recent economic developments and the resulting impacts and implications on the Colorado economy. It will provide a handful of charts with brief analysis and be updated as key data are released.

“The work that we do is raising the quality of life in the state, one person at a time, one business at a time.”

Richard Wobbekind, Leeds associate dean of business and government relations and senior economist

The center publishes a quarterly Leeds Business Confidence Index, which gauges Colorado business leaders’ opinions about the economy and how their industry will perform in the coming quarter. Additionally, it produces the Colorado Business Review, which provides specific analysis on a particular topic or industry, and the Quarterly Business and Economic Indicators report, produced in conjunction with the Colorado Secretary of State’s Office to reveal the correlations between various business filing data and economic metrics. BRD has been partnering with the secretary of state’s office since 2011.

They are also a resource for conducting research studies on specific areas, entities and industries. For example, the recent University of Colorado 2023 Economic Impact Study and the 2019 Colorado Natural and Organic Industry Study.

Just released is a report on the nonprofit industry, completed with the Colorado Nonprofit Association. It showed that nonprofits contributed $62 billion to the state’s annual economy and supported 262,000 jobs.

Commitment to Colorado

Wobbekind and Brian Lewandowski, executive director of the BRD, deliver frequent presentations to the business community and the community-at-large all over the state, both virtually and in person.

“We really try to disseminate the work that we do and the information we collect to a wide variety of audiences both geographically and industry-wise,” Wobbekind said. “Whether we’re talking about the economy to the nonprofit community or hospitals or healthcare groups, we are customizing that information and making it useful.”

He continued, “We share general information, but when we are in Northern Colorado, we are highlighting data that is important to Weld and Larimer counties, and when we’re in Grand Junction, for instance, we’re highlighting important industries in that geographic area like agriculture, tourism, manufacturing, natural resources and mining.”

The BRD will celebrate the release of its 60^th forecast report in December 2024 at its Annual Colorado Business Economic Outlook Forum. There’s always an in-person kickoff with webinars and virtual opportunities for alumni and business leaders. Again, accessibility is key to effectiveness and true impact.

“The annual report features input from more than 130 business and government contributors from around the state of Colorado, so part of the annual kickoff is highlighting all of this work and data collection, but the ultimate goal is converting it all to usable data for business and government decision-making,” Wobbekind said.

Serving through teamwork

Three people make up the BRD team: Wobbekind, Lewandowski and Adam Illig, the BRD’s data scientist.

The division also hires five to seven undergraduate students, many of them Leeds students, to help proofread the annual report and create data charts. The students help keep the tone of the report engaging and accessible, and they learn how to interpret data and other useful economic research skills along the way.

Often, the annual report contributors around the state include CU and Leeds alumni. Wobbekind describes how helpful it has been over the years when Leeds MBA graduates contribute to their research projects, lending invaluable perspective from their vantage points working across the Colorado business landscape.

It is a true collaboration for Colorado and with Colorado, because everyone involved cares about the people and ultimate prosperity of the state.

“We're really trying to help people across the state of Colorado understand the economy better, understand the environment they're operating in better to make better decisions,” Wobbekind said.

In the media, they are frequently called upon as experts at making sense of the economy’s twists and turns, including fluctuations in the housing market, unemployment and rate of business formation.

“I think what we’re doing, the work that we do is raising the quality of life in the state, one person at a time, one business at a time. We're helping the state be more successful. We are helping the government and business leaders be more effective at their jobs with spending and hiring. And we’re helping people be prepared for the things that we see as potential clouds on the horizon so they can be ready for change.”

The Business Research Division has served communities across the state for more than 100 years.

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Pessimism Continues to Reign in Survey of Business Leaders , But Signs of Hope Emerging

Anonymous — Fri, 24 Mar 2023 06:00:00 +0000

Pessimism Continues to Reign in Survey of Business Leaders , But Signs of Hope Emerging Anonymous (not verified) Fri, 03/24/2023 - 00:00

It’s the third-longest period of negativity in the history of the Leeds Business Confidence Index. 

If you’re looking for good news in the latest quarterly Leeds Business Confidence Index, it’s that while business leaders remain pessimistic about Colorado’s economic trends, they sound less dispirited than surveys past.

However, with a five of the last six indices returning negative sentiment from industry, we’re currently in the third-longest period of pessimism in the index’s 20-year history.

Perhaps one development tamping down any growing optimism is the drumbeat of bad news related to banking and Fed actions to curb inflation. Several leaders mentioned banking issues in explaining their responses.

“There is plenty of pessimism in the index, but we do see a few hopeful signs, including optimism about sales and expectations of lower inflation,” said Brian Lewandowski, executive director of the Business Research Division at Leeds, which publishes the report.

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The LBCI captures Colorado business leaders’ three- and six-month outlooks on the national and state economies, industry sales, profits, hiring plans, and capital expenditures. For the second quarter, 230 participants recorded their responses to a wide-ranging survey on these economic topics.

Among the highlights:

Not surprisingly, interest rates (38 percent) and inflation (31 percent) were the two most-noted reasons for panelists’ pessimism as we head into the next quarter.
Inflation in the Denver-Aurora-Lakewood metro area ran ahead of the national pace from 2013 to 2020, but panelists are forecasting improvement—a majority said prices will be lower than current levels by the end of December. Updated BRD forecasting expects inflation to increase 4.3 percent from the year, a slight improvement over the previous projection of 4.5 percent.
Slightly more than half of participants (56.9 percent) expect the United States to enter a recession in 2023.
Among the six components measured by the index, only industry sales (50.4) was in optimistic territory. Each component increased from the first quarter, but the other five remain below 50. In a troubling sign, the lowest data point was the national economy (37.1).

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Colorado’s business leaders have maintained a gloomy outlook throughout the uneven road back from the pandemic-driven recession.

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Colorado Secretary of State Q3 2022 Indicators Report

Anonymous — Tue, 15 Nov 2022 07:00:00 +0000

Colorado Secretary of State Q3 2022 Indicators Report Anonymous (not verified) Tue, 11/15/2022 - 00:00

The economy continues to take sideways steps emerging from the pandemic. For every bit of good news—like the state's persistent jobs recovery or better-than-expected record of new entities forming—there remain stubborn headwinds related to inflation, rising interest rates and more.

Report summary Download full report Business Research Division

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