Colorado: Exports, Jobs, and Foreign Investment

Exports Support Jobs for Colorado's Workers

Export-supported jobs linked to manufacturing account for an estimated 3.6 percent of Colorado's total private-sector employment. Over one-sixth (18.6 percent) of all manufacturing workers in Colorado depend on exports for their jobs. (2006 data are the latest available.)

Note: Export-related employment data shown do not include manufacturing and non-manufacturing jobs involved in the export of non-manufactured goods, such as farm products, minerals, and services sold to foreign buyers. Indirect exports exclude imported items. The complete 2006 export-related employment series is available on our Export Related Jobs pages. Additional information on methodology used in the export-related employment series can be found in the U.S. Census Bureau's publication Exports from Manufacturing Establishments: 2006.

Source: State Export-Related Employment Project, International Trade Administration and Bureau of the Census.

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Exports Sustain Thousands of Colorado Businesses

A total of 4,133 companies exported from Colorado locations in 2006. Of those, 3,618 (88 percent) were small and medium-sized enterprises with fewer than 500 employees.

Small and medium-sized firms generated one-quarter (25 percent) of Colorado's total exports of merchandise in 2006.

Source: International Trade Administration and Bureau of the Census, Foreign Trade Division: Exporter Database.

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Foreign Investment Creates Jobs in Colorado

In 2006, foreign-controlled companies employed 75,900 Colorado workers. Major sources of foreign investment in Colorado in 2006 included the United Kingdom, Canada, the Netherlands, France, and Switzerland.

Approximately one-fifth (19 percent or 14,500 workers) of these employees were in the manufacturing sector in 2006.

Nearly one of every ten manufacturing workers (9.6 percent) in Colorado was employed by foreign-controlled companies in 2006.

Foreign investment in Colorado was responsible for 3.8 percent of the state's total private-industry employment in 2006.

Note: All figures exclude employment in banks affiliated with foreign companies.

Source: U.S. Department of Commerce, Bureau of Economic Analysis.

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Colorado Depends on World Markets

Colorado's export shipments of merchandise in 2008 totaled $7.7 billion.

The state's largest export market, by far, was Canada. Colorado posted exports of $2.1 billion to Canada in 2008, which was over one-fourth (28 percent) of the total for 2008. Canada was followed Mexico ($961 million), China ($508 million), the Netherlands ($404 million) and Japan ($336 million).

The state's leading export category in 2008, by far, was computers and electronic products, which alone accounted for 35 percent or $2.7 billion of Colorado's total merchandise exports. Other top exports were processed foods (2008 exports of $968 million), machinery manufactures ($771 million), and chemical manufactures ($732 million).

Source: Revised Origin of Movement State Export Series, Bureau of the Census, Foreign Trade Division.

Caution: The Origin of Movement series allocates exports to states based on transportation origin, i.e., the state from which goods began their journey to the port (or other point) of exit from the United States. The transportation origin of exports is not always the same as the location where the goods were produced. Consequently, conclusions about "export production" in a state should not be made solely on the basis of the Origin of Movement state export figures.

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Colorado's Metropolitan Exports

In 2007, the metropolitan area of Denver-Aurora exported $4.2 billion in merchandise, 47 percent of Colorado's total merchandise exports. Other major metropolitan areas in Colorado that exported in 2007 included Colorado Springs ($1.8 billion), Boulder ($899 million), Greeley ($792 million), and Fort Collins-Loveland ($557 million).

Source: International Trade Administration and Bureau of the Census, Foreign Trade Division: Metropolitan Export Series.

Caution: The Origin of Movement zip-based series allocates exports to metropolitan areas based on transportation origin, i.e., the metropolitan area from which goods began their journey to the port (or other point) of exit from the United States. The transportation origin of exports is not always the same as the location where the goods were produced. Consequently, conclusions about "export production" in a metropolitan area should not be made solely on the basis of the Origin of Movement zip-based export figures.

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