Since 1990 Colorado manufacturing employment has fared better than U.S. manufacturing employment. This has occurred in part because Colorado has grown off a much smaller base. Also the mix of companies in Colorado has not included some of the industries, such as textiles, that were hit hardest by outsourcing.
Colorado’s strength in manufacturing is beverages such as Coors/Miller and Budweiser. As well, the state has competencies in select high-tech sectors.
The bad news for Colorado is that the industry’s location quotient, or concentration, is well below 1.0 and trending downward. In other words, Colorado has a lower concentration of manufacturers than the U.S.
