In contrast, Kansas gets an A.
Colorado’s manufacturing health gets poor ratings in a new report card. The Manufacturing and Logistics National Report rated Colorado’s manufacturing industry health as a D, down from the D+ it earned last year. The manufacturing industry makes up about 4.5 percent of the state economy.
Many of Colorado’s neighbors fared better, with Kansas earning an A, and Nebraska and Utah getting C’s. Wyoming was rated a D, while New Mexico got an F.
The study looked at three factors—the share of total income earned by manufacturing employees, the wage premium paid to manufacturing workers relative to other states, and the share of manufacturing employment per capita. The study was sponsored by Conexus Indiana and produced by Ball State University’s Center for Business and Economic Research.
On the positive side for small business owners, Colorado earned a B for the cost of its worker benefits and a B in productivity and innovation. The study also says that, nationwide, the manufacturing sector is seeing long-term growth.
“The U.S. manufacturing base is not in decline, and we have recovered from the recession,” said Michael J. Hicks, an economics professor at Ball State University, in a statement. “Nor are jobs being outsourced because American manufacturing can’t compete internationally. Moreover new jobs in manufacturing pay well above the average wage.”
