While other states debate what future talent systems should look like, Colorado is doing something about it.
House Bill 1317, also known as the Unified Postsecondary Talent Development System Act, consolidates more than 20 divisions across seven state agencies into a seamless system by restructuring and integrating the state’s higher education and workforce development programs. Its passage provides us with the opportunity to build a forward-thinking, cohesive system that strengthens outcomes for our young people, our businesses and our economy.
Along with other leaders in education and workforce development, we share the same deep belief that when students thrive and employers have the talent they need, Colorado’s economy grows stronger for everyone.
Today, many students lack clear pathways to meaningful careers, while employers navigate a complex landscape of education programs and groups asking for their engagement, uncertain where to invest their time to signal their most pressing workforce needs. Meanwhile, artificial intelligence is reshaping career paths across every sector, and the pace is only accelerating.
The result: A system where the potential is vast, but the connections aren’t always productive.
The transition advisory committee selected to guide this work has an exciting and consequential charge. We encourage them to rise above any individual interests and think boldly by bringing the same sophistication, data and strategy to this process as is used by the market itself.
The boldest redesign starts not with programs or funding streams but with the people the system serves, namely students building futures and employers building teams, and works outward from there. What does a student need to make a confident, informed decision about their future in Colorado? What does an employer need to develop pipelines and engage with the talent system in a way that is worth their time and investment? How do we ensure Colorado-grown talent can be as or more prepared compared to talent from outside Colorado?
Those questions should drive every structural decision that follows.
We urge the committee not to simply organize existing programs, but guide Colorado toward an innovative and responsive system that sets up students and employers for success.
Colorado is already demonstrating its capacity for innovation. The state government is promoting apprenticeship programs and alternative pathways to careers. More affordable, stackable credentials help learners build toward careers on their own terms. The state is building a culture that promotes evidence-based programs, ensuring learners know the “ROI” of certain training paths.
As the workforce evolves with AI and a changing economy, the design of the new agency can be built to move with that change, not lag behind it. For example, the structure can allow for a dedicated, empowered team whose job is to respond to emerging signals: stand up new initiatives, reshape strategy, test approaches quickly and move resources.
A unified department can also bring data together to drive action, such as education data paired with real-time labor market information. We have pieces of this today, including with the launch of a state longitudinal data system. This new organizational structure can accelerate and integrate more data into insights.
Finally, with this new structure, Colorado can build a unified system connected across postsecondary paths and the workforce. To do this, we need governance that cuts across programs. Decision-making authority needs to sit with people who can see across the full system, not just within a single team or funding stream.
These are the seeds of a more integrated system, and this new agency provides the opportunity to build lasting infrastructure with scale and coherence.
Ultimately, this is a community-wide initiative. Government cannot do this alone. Employers, educators and community organizations have an ongoing role to play not just as users of a redesigned system, but as co-architects, contributors and partners.
Colorado has the talent. We have the innovation mindset. We have cross-sector relationships that make hard things possible. And now, with House Bill 1317 and the dedicated members of the Transition Advisory Committee, we have the potential to build a system that is coherent, equitable and scalable, and that is centered around the futures of our students and employers.
Colorado’s talent future is bright. Let’s build it together.
Rebecca Arno, of Aurora, is the CEO of Prosperity Denver Fund, an organization funded by Denver sales tax to fund programs for Denver students following pathways to college and careers.
Christine Heitz, of Denver, is the CEO of Colorado Thrives, a CEO and employer coalition focused on improving economic mobility for Colorado talent through jobs.
The Colorado Sun is a nonpartisan news organization, and the opinions of columnists and editorial writers do not reflect the opinions of the newsroom. Read our ethics policy for more on The Sun’s opinion policy. Learn how to submit a column. Reach the opinion editor at opinion@coloradosun.com.
Follow Colorado Sun Opinion on Facebook.