How the Colorado Chamber of Commerce Uses Job Market Data to Fuel Business Growth
As the statewide voice for business, the Colorado Chamber of Commerce answers questions and informs policies on everything from workforce development to salary transparency. It’s a role that SVP of Communications Cynthia Eveleth-Havens knows well.
But keeping tabs on these aspects of Colorado’s business climate is hard when you don’t have real-time job market data. That’s a realization Cynthia came to shortly after joining the Chamber. And it’s what ultimately led her to partnering with Aspen Tech Labs.
For the full story, and to see how our jobs data has helped drive the Chamber’s decade-long strategic plan and inform state lawmakers, keep reading.
The Problem: A Lack of Real-Time Visibility into the Job Market
Prior to Aspen Tech Labs, Cynthia would gauge the business climate using two industry-standard resources:
- Business surveys. These surveys would pose questions about the work climate in Colorado. The firsthand experiences of everyone from business leaders to individual contributors were valuable, but the evidence itself was anecdotal – not empirical.
- Federal data sites. Cynthia would frequent sites from bodies like the Bureau of Labor Statistics to get tangible findings about the Colorado job market. Unfortunately, the data from these sources is already several months old when it’s published. That made it difficult to (A) pinpoint how / when certain trends developed and (B) assess any specific policies or mandates, like the salary transparency rule.
But both had shortcomings that became clear as the pandemic began. Reporters and lawmakers needed real-time information on how the economic upheaval was impacting Colorado businesses. Members of the public needed the same.
The Colorado Chamber could share findings from informal business surveys, anecdotal conversations with members, and publicly available federal data. But it did not have any resources or tools to provide timely job market information to the public. This meant that if Cynthia wanted to share the insights Coloradans needed, she’d have to build something new.
“We had to establish that when it comes to the business and economic landscape in Colorado, the Chamber is the authority,” Cynthia said.
To do so, Cynthia sought out numerous businesses in Colorado to share their jobs and salary information. But this proved too cumbersome. So she adapted, turning her attention to other options. This is how she discovered Aspen Tech Labs.
The Solution: Real-Time Data Personalized for a Colorado Audience
Gone are the days of months-old data. Today, the Colorado Chamber of Commerce’s partnership with Aspen Tech Labs means the public, chamber members, and legislators alike can access updated job market data that paints a clear story of Colorado’s business climate.
In the past, Cynthia would get contacted by reporters and journalists who wanted up-to-date job market information from the Chamber of Commerce. But because the Chamber didn’t have access to this sort of data, Cynthia could only reference business surveys or federal data.
Now Cynthia works proactively with state and local news outlets to disseminate Colorado job market data. That goes a long way toward informing the broader public of what’s going on with the state economy. What’s more: the data also provides localized information for smaller communities across Colorado, allowing the Chamber to be a valuable resource at the state and local level.
Anecdotal accounts from business leaders and employees in Colorado still play an important role, though. The direct engagement helps the Chamber identify which initiatives to prioritize and which to develop. But now those anecdotes are contextualized with data.
The Result: “An Accurate Pulse of the State Economy”
“Ever since we started releasing quarterly jobs reports, more people have reached out about the work we do – it’s given us a lot more visibility,” Cynthia said. “We can now share an accurate pulse of the state economy.”
But improved public sentiment isn’t the only benefit that Cynthia has seen. There are three major wins that Aspen Tech Labs’ data helped drive.
Win #1: Vision 2033
Vision 2033 is a 10-year strategic plan meant to foster long-term economic growth and resiliency in Colorado. The development and execution of this plan required data across dozens of job market areas. And tracking the Chamber’s progress as it implements the plan will require accurate data moving forward.
“Someone may say ‘I’ve heard there are a lot of vacancies in the tech sector; can you get me data on that?’ Yes. We can now,’” Cynthia said. That’s a benefit of partnering with Aspen Tech Labs: the Chamber can act as quickly as it was meant to.
Win #2: The Colorado scorecard
The second win has to do with a scorecard the Chamber put out to depict how Colorado is doing with business, quality of life, public sentiment, and more. “We’ve gotten a lot of positive feedback about the scorecard,” Cynthia said. “And Aspen Tech Labs’ data has been instrumental in helping us track the workforce statistics and rankings in the Scorecard.”
Win #3: Informing elected officials on public policy
With Aspen Tech Labs’ data, the Colorado Chamber is now armed with powerful information on the state of the jobs market. This is a useful tool when advocating for businesses at the State Capitol when elected officials propose new laws that impact labor and employment regulations.
Specifically, the Chamber has used Aspen Tech Labs’ data when lawmakers recently updated the state’s wage transparency law in 2023.
“In the past, we were only able to use anecdotal evidence,” Cynthia noted. “Hard data is much more powerful.”
What’s Next for the Colorado Chamber of Commerce: Leaning on Data to Execute Strategy
For now, Cynthia and the rest of the Colorado Chamber team are focused on executing Vision 2033. Given that this plan took years to develop, that’s no surprise.
Improving the state’s business climate will require significant resources from the Chamber, and Aspen Tech Labs’ data will help the organization measure its progress when it comes to bolstering the state’s workforce and promoting job growth across various sectors.
This data will also continue to be a tool the Chamber can use in its advocacy efforts moving forward. “There are always issues that will come up in a future legislative session where this information could be helpful.”
Fortunately, no matter what comes up, the Colorado Chamber of Commerce will have industry-leading data they can lean on to find answers.
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