Colorado prides itself on being a leader in entrepreneurship, yet it has fallen short in that area for the past decade. Business creation, as measured by Gross Establishment Openings, has been somewhat volatile. In addition, Openings have trended flat to slightly downward since 2001.
As well, the annual change in the number of establishments (openings minus closures) has paled compared to the period 1994 to 2001. To add insult to injury, the annual change was negative for 3 years from 2009 to 2011.
Annual Change
1994 4,977
1995 5,056
1996 3,535
1997 4,742
1998 3,729
1999 3,271
2000 4,138
2001 3,885
2002 876
2003 1,154
2004 2,540
2005 3,256
2006 2,991
2007 3,078
2008 1,586
2009 -3,708
2010 -3,809
2011 -176
2012 1,818
Note: The above years end in March.
There were 18,033 Openings and 16,215 Closings in Q2 2012, the last quarter that data is available for. That quarter, Openings accounted for 23.2% of Gross Establishments Added and Closing accounted for 24.1% of Gross Establishments Lost.
For more information go to the report, “Why Weaker Job Growth?” on cber.co. It can be found in the Special Reports Section.
©Copyright 2011 by CBER.