Colorado has a reputation for meeting its workforce needs in part by importing a large share of highly educated workers; the state must also ensure that the education and training pipelines within the state are adequately preparing youth and adults for the workforce and are aligned with the needs of the economy. Our conventional talent pipeline--as measured by the number of 9th graders that complete a Colorado public high school degree, directly enter...

The Colorado Office of Economic Development and International Trade (OEDIT) researched and analyzed the attributes that talent values in a community when searching for a job or working in a specific location. Upon identifying what is most important to talent, we then measured how select states performed on the attributes critical to the workforce. This report provides business leaders, community leaders, and policymakers with the tools to build communities...