NerdWallet, a consumer finance website, recently conducted a study to find the best places in Colorado to start a business and results were released in late June. Grand Junction ranked 11th.
To determine this ranking, NerdWallet examined 85 places in Colorado with populations of 5,000 or more and analyzed the following factors:
- Business climate
- Average revenue of businesses
- Percentage of businesses with paid employees
- Businesses per 100 people
- Local economic health
- Median annual income
- Median monthly housing costs
- Unemployment rate
Grand Junction is the largest city to make the top 20 – with a population of nearly 60,000. The city also enjoys the most businesses of any other city in the list, 7,655, and these businesses maintain average revenue of over $960,000 per establishment. As nearly 40% of the businesses have paid employees, aspiring business owners can expect a strong business climate when coming to Grand Junction to start their own.
“This is good news, from our perspective,” noted Diane Schwenke, President/CEO of the Grand Junction Chamber. “And with the start up business assistance resources we have available through community organizations such as the Business Incubator Center, we know those new businesses will also have a greater chance of being successful and sustainable.”