Gov.-elect Bill Ritter said Tuesday he will act as the state’s top “salesman” when it comes to bringing more jobs to Colorado.
“The governor’s chief role (in economic development) is as a marketer,” Ritter told about 700 people at the South Metro Chamber of Commerce annual forecast breakfast.
Ritter, who takes over as governor in January, provided an example of how he is already at work on recruitment efforts.
After Nellcor Puritan Bennett, a $1.4 billion division of Tyco Healthcare based in California, said this month it would relocate 300 corporate and engineering jobs to the Gun Barrel area in Boulder, Ritter called company president Scott Drake to thank and welcome him.
“I told him Colorado is open for business,” Ritter said.
Unable to offer the large tax breaks or outright cash grants that some other states do in efforts to lure companies, Colorado will continue to need to emphasize more “human” factors such as work-life balance and an educated workforce, Ritter said.
Ritter also said he would like to see the state’s research universities develop closer ties to the National Renewable Energy Laboratory in Golden and the private sector to bring new technologies to market.
Brian Vogt, director of the Colorado Office of Economic Development and International Trade, estimates that economic- development efforts in the state have created 11,266 jobs in the state this year, up from 9,300 last year. Although it is beating the national average, the state continues to underperform its neighbors in job creation.
Nevada, Arizona, Utah and Idaho are all enjoying job growth of 4.5 percent or more, compared with 2.2 percent for Colorado, said Alexandra Hall, chief economist with the Colorado Department of Labor and Employment.
Staff writer Aldo Svaldi can be reached at 303-954-1410 or asvaldi@denverpost.com.
