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Regional Talent Summits Address Workforce Challenges Statewide; Lay Path for Future Talent Development
Description: The Colorado Chamber of Commerce Released the Following Report on the 2025 Regional Talent Summits Held from February Until June Across Colorado...
Regional Talent Summits Address Workforce Challenges Statewide; Lay Path for Future Talent Development
DENVER – The Colorado Chamber of Commerce today celebrated the successful completion of seven regional talent summits that addressed workforce challenges in key industries across Colorado. The initiative is part of the Regional Talent Summits Act, established through House Bill 1365, which the Chamber played a lead role in passing.
Stakeholders participating in the summits included members of the business community, government entities and higher education leaders. The Colorado Chamber and its partners in the Education to Employment Alliance assisted in the development of the initiative and helped coordinate participants of the summits.
“These summits improve workforce outcomes statewide, connecting the right people from the business community, educational institutions and government to identify the curriculum and skills needed to fulfill job opportunities across the state,” said Colorado Chamber President and CEO Loren Furman. “This is a key component of the Chamber’s strategic priority to meet the workforce needs of our growing economy and marks a pivotal step in Colorado’s ongoing workforce development efforts. We’re proud of the progress made and look forward to building on this momentum.”
The summits, held across Colorado from February through June 2025, focused on a wide range of industries – from health care and advanced manufacturing to tourism and clean energy. Each summit brought together dozens of leaders, totaling hundreds statewide, to generate tactical workforce plans that develop career pathways in specified fields facing regional workforce challenges. A summary of each regional summit is below:
- Northeast Regional Talent Summit: Leaders from advanced manufacturing, construction and health care identified key workforce gaps – including students’ limited exposure to construction careers and limited upward mobility in health care – and committed to developing comprehensive new pathways to strengthen their industries.
- Denver Regional Talent Summit: Industry leaders from aerospace & defense, advanced manufacturing, and renewables & clean energy partnered with educators and state officials to analyze talent gaps and draft two- and five-year plans to create new career pathways and strengthen career readiness in their fields.
- Southern Regional Talent Summit: Advanced manufacturing, construction and technology leaders focused on how to employ existing but underutilized tools and to create new pathways in order to boost the pipeline of students and adult workers into their sectors in southeastern Colorado.
- Northwest Regional Talent Summit: Leaders from the construction, health care and tourism sectors discussed the impact of limited housing and workforce-sharing needs and agreed to work together on solutions to retain and attract local talent.
- South Central Regional Talent Summit: Attendees from the agriculture, health care, and tech industries emphasized the need for greater industry-wide collaboration with educators to strengthen and expand career pathways, especially in rural areas.
- Western Regional Talent Summit: Construction, early childhood education and health care industry leaders discussed the need to work more closely with local school districts and colleges as well as the need to address some of the regulatory and structural obstacles that stand in the way of growing their industries.
- Pikes Peak Regional Talent Summit: Industry leaders from aerospace and defense, advanced manufacturing and technology sectors emphasized the importance of expanding access to hands-on learning opportunities and building clearer connections between education and high-demand careers.
A common theme across these industry-led discussions was the need for greater collaboration between industries and educators, as well as better use of underutilized pathways to expand workforce opportunities. Insights gathered from these discussions will be included in the 2025 Colorado Talent Pipeline Report, shaping future workforce development strategies across the state. Outcome reports from each summit will be available by Fall 2025.
Learn more about the Opportunity Now Regional Talent Summits here: https://oedit.colorado.
