Manufacturing
Industry Overview
Colorado hosts 6,000 manufacturing companies employing more than 150,000 workers in all corners of the state, along with an additional 6,100 "nonemployer businesses" that provide an important entrepreneurial base to the state's manufacturing industry.
Colorado manufacturers produce tens of thousands of durable and nondurable goods that are sold within the state and exported around the world. The following types of manufacturing take place in Colorado:
Durable |
Non-Durable |
Nonmetallic Minerals |
Foods |
Fabricated Metals |
Beverages |
Computer & Electronic Products |
Printing & Publishing |
Transportation |
Textiles, Apparel & Leather Goods |
Wood Products |
Paper |
Primary Metals |
Petroleum & Coal Products |
Machinery |
Chemicals |
Electrical Equipment & Appliances |
Plastics & Rubber Products |
Furniture |
Medical Devices |
Manufacturing is a $14.5 billion industry that has remained relatively steady in the face of nationwide employment losses and outsourcing. See below for just some of the ways Colorado helps its manufacturers compete in a competitive global marketplace.
Location, Location, Location
- Located a mere 346 miles west of the geographic center of the continental United States, Colorado is an excellent location for doing business with the entire nation.
- The state is located on a north-south corridor, linking it to both Canada and Mexico. As such, Colorado is the ideal location to capitalize on North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) opportunities. An efficient, multi-modal transportation system facilitates the movement of people and goods along this corridor.
- Denver, the state capital, is located at the exact midpoint between Tokyo and Frankfurt, offering opportunities to easily serve growing world markets.
- The entire state is located in the Mountain Time Zone, allowing communications with both coasts, and with Europe, South America, and the Far East in the same business day.
- Colorado's central U.S. location allows convenient access as air travelers can easily reach two-thirds of the nation within two hours. Furthermore, Colorado is within four hours flying time of every major city with a population of one million or more on the continent.
- Colorado also boasts 'one-bounce' satellite uplinks that provide real-time connections to six of seven continents in one business day.
Reliable Transportation
- Colorado's state highway system has over 9,000 miles, of which 956 miles are interstate highways. The convergence of I-25, a major north-south interstate, and I-70 and I-76, major east-west interstates, makes Colorado¿s front range a transportation hub.
- Denver International Airport (DIA) is the sixth busiest airport in the nation (11th in the world) and home to more than 30 commercial carriers which serve more than 135 domestic and international destinations with nonstop service. In addition to DIA, Colorado has 17 commercial and 62 general aviation airports located throughout the state.
- Colorado has nearly 3,000 miles of Class 1 railroad tracks, as well as intermodal train/truck facilities.
- Colorado voters approved the funding of FasTracks in November 2004. FasTracks is a $4.7 billion, 12-year comprehensive plan for the design and construction of high quality, metro-wide transit service and facilities. FasTracks will vastly improve mobility throughout the region.
Low Business Costs
- Colorado has the 12th most business-friendly tax climate in the nation according to the State Business Tax Climate Index. Colorado ranks sixth in the corporate tax index, a subindex of the overall tax climate index. Colorado has one of the lowest corporate income tax rates in the nation at 4.63%.
- Colorado ranks fifth in the nation for economic competitiveness based on government and fiscal policy, security, infrastructure, human resources, technology, business incubation, openness, and environmental policy factors.
- Colorado is the 22nd least expensive state in the nation in which to do business, according to an index based on wage costs, taxes, electricity costs, and real estate costs for industrial and office space.
- The risk of natural disasters (hurricanes, tornados and earthquakes) in Colorado is minimal compared to locations on the east, west, and southern coasts.
- Additionally, Colorado offers special tax breaks to manufacturers.
- Purchases of manufacturing equipment or machine tools of over $500 are exempt from Colorado sales and use tax.
- Component parts, fuels and electricity, ink and newsprint, aircraft parts used in general maintenance, interstate long distance telephone charges, farm equipment and machinery, and packaging materials are also exempt from state sales and use tax.
- Pollution control equipment may also be eligible for a refund of state sales tax.
- For manufacturers that locate in an Enterprise Zone, there is an additional $500 tax credit above and beyond standard Zone credits for each new employee.
- Colorado provides valuable financial assistance for workforce development and training.
Industry Support
The Colorado Association for Manufacturing and Technology (CAMT) is a newly formed, state-wide association providing a collaborative forum and knowledge exchange for manufacturers in Colorado.
CAMT helps strengthen the competitiveness of manufacturers by providing a state-level vehicle to draw funding from various sources - federal, state and private - to invest in programs that are important to the manufacturing community as part of a focused economic investment strategy. These programs include strengthening the supply chain; investing in new technologies and innovation; export assistance; workforce development and training; responding to changes in the legal and regulatory environment.
The Colorado Manufacturing Extension Partnership (MEP), is part of a national network of manufacturing support centers. The Colorado MEP is a public/private partnership and is funded through the MEP federal program and from client fees. The program has provided technical assistance and training to Colorado manufacturers since 1994.
Colorado MEP provides technical assistance to manufacturers in four main areas: Lean Enterprise; Quality Improvement (ISO and Six Sigma); Strategy and Policy Deployment; and Marketing and Growth Planning.
For more information, see:
http://www.mamtc.com/mamtccolorado.asp
http://www.mep.nist.gov/