DENVER — Colorado's business climate is heading in the wrong direction, according to the Denver Metro Chamber of Commerce.
This week, the chamber held its annual State of the State event to review the work of the 2025 legislative session.
Until recently, Colorado was perennially in the top ten of CNBC's annual rankings of top states in which to do business. The state slipped to number 11 last year and number 16 this year.
Carly West, vice president of government affairs for the Denver Metro Chamber of Commerce, told Denver7 she's disappointed to see how quickly the pro-business trend is reversing.
"For example, we saw, this year, 43 bills introduced that create a new private right of action, so a new way for someone to sue a business. We saw 37 of those bills last year," West said. "And obviously, not all of those passed, but it shows an increasing trend of an overly litigious environment that all adds up to cost and risk to businesses. That really creates an atmosphere where it is difficult and challenging to do business."
West said this legislative session wasn't all bad news. Boulder was named the new home of the Sundance Film Festival beginning in 2027.
"We saw the legislature take an approach with trying to attract Sundance this year that was all about incentives and supporting the community, and we got it. We landed Sundance, and that is a huge win," said West.
West said the chamber is asking state lawmakers to provide more incentives to lure businesses to Colorado and address the high cost of living.
