From Colorado’s Western Slope through the Eastern Plains, a change is underway, one that aims to shape the future of the State's workforce.
In Rifle and Parachute, high school students are building tiny homes for school faculty and staff while developing construction skills to land $75,000 jobs out of high school. In Denver, AdvanceEDU is providing financial and logistical support for individuals seeking higher levels of education and career advancement. In Golden, CoorsTek is expanding their tech academy to train employees. What do each of these programs have in common? They are supported by an innovative state program.
Opportunity Now Colorado, a groundbreaking grant program, has been making waves by injecting innovation into the fields of advanced industries, education, healthcare, and infrastructure. Colorado is experiencing worker shortages in these fields, and is also strategically growing advanced industries such as quantum and semiconductors. Opportunity Now funds new and existing programs to place Coloradans into good, living wage, high skill, in demand jobs.
To date, 89 grantees have been awarded $82 million to invest in new and proven methods of developing Colorado’s workforce. Recipients include industry and business, school districts, nonprofits, higher education, health centers, community groups and more. Opportunity Now funding supports partnerships between industry and education and training providers to ensure training is relevant and matches industry needs.
“With Opportunity Now funding, business and education is co-creating skilled talent together,” said Misti Ruthven of Governor Polis’ office.
Initiated by the state assembly through HB22-1350, this federal funding also emphasizes support for rural and regionally focused efforts. Opportunity Now-funded programs empower Coloradans to access education and training for high skill, high paying jobs.
One of the program recipients is AdvanceEDU. Based in Denver, AdvanceEDU received $1.15 million from Opportunity Now. They provide multifaceted “wrap around support” for their students, which includes financial, logistical, and mental health support. With wrap-around support, people can stabilize other parts of their lives, and pursue more opportunities to obtain special training needed to enter high paying, in-demand industries. AdvanceEDU aids degree-seeking individuals in obtaining certifications, Associates, and Bachelors degrees in business, health care leadership, education and technology.
“Both the team and the students are really excited about the investment from the state,” said Advance EDU CEO Lauren Trent.
AdvanceEDU’s Student Leadership Board was integral in deciding how the organization used the Opportunity Now grant.
“They help advise on every big decision that we make,” said CEO Lauren Trent about the Student Leadership Board. “It was really their idea to deepen our set of career supports and to launch the K-12 bridge program. We take student input to our strategic direction very seriously.”
The Bridge program supports recent high school graduates during the summer before starting a higher education program, through career coaching, college prep, and social events.
AdvanceEDU’s first celebration of supported college graduates was held in Summer 2024. Made up of 20 students, many of these graduates will support priority Colorado industries, such as education and healthcare. AdvanceEDU will be recognizing 15 additional students who have reached significant milestones in their professional and academic journeys. This group of honorees is largely made up of people of color; the vast majority are first generation post-secondary students and work at least part time; many are also caregivers. With AdvanceEDU providing what is often called wrap-around support, these Denver residents are pursuing educational and career opportunities that may otherwise not be possible.
By investing into programs like Advance EDU, Opportunity Now provides incentives at scale for business and education to come together. Through many of these earn-and-learn programs, the education to career pathway allows Coloradans to train on the job.
There are many innovative ways to educate people in Colorado, many programs use a model which supports both the industry and the individual. In addition to programs like AdvanceEDU which provide wrap-around services.
Another example of an exemplary grantee is CoorsTek’s earn-and-learn model. The company was named a recipient of Opportunity Now in March 2024. They were awarded over $4.5 million to expand the CoorsTek Training Academy, which launched in 2021. The program will include youth apprenticeships which will help young people to develop technical and advanced manufacturing skills.
“We are committed to a future where our efforts translate into a more enriched landscape of career paths within the manufacturing sector, fostering substantial wage progression for individuals across the broader community,” said CoorsTek Global Technical Training Director, Sean Grubb.
Opportunity Now funding serves all 14 regions of Colorado, including Emergent Campus in Fremont County, who received over $3.5 million in funding to expand their operation into Trinidad. Emergent Campus is scaling their current model which provides tech training, working space, and startup support. Already, Emergent Campus has generated more than 155 tech jobs and supported over 50 paid internships in Fremont County, with $25 million annual economic impact.
Collectively, the 89 programs funded across the state are expected to serve more than 20,000 Coloradans, placing 7,500 Coloradans into high paying jobs. Empowering both learners and earners in Colorado industries to invest in Colorado talent, Opportunity Now bolsters and grows the Colorado workforce, creating a stronger Colorado for All.
The newly passed HB24-1365 bill, which we like to call Opportunity Now 2.0, provides $3.8 million in one-time general funding to continue the grant program with a focus on infrastructure, creates regional summits focused on workforce development and introduce a $15 million refundable tax credit for business and industry, which will continue the work of the program in support of local workforce development solutions. This next round of Opportunity Now funding will become available fall 2024.
