Economic symposium to focus on supply chain, entrepreneurship, real estate

DENVER — Colorado’s economic luminaries will gather Monday in Denver for the annual Colorado Business Economic Outlook, which will focus on issues such as the supply chain, entrepreneurship and real estate.

Erick Mueller, executive director of the Deming Center for Entrepreneurship, will offer information about the economic drivers impacting the start-up and entrepreneurial ecosystem.

Specific focuses will include ways Colorado “as a state can support companies that want to grow in scale” and the differing needs between business owners in rural regions versus those in urban areas, Mueller said. 

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“It should be a great session on Monday and we’re really excited to share some really interesting insights,” he said Thursday during a preview of the event. 

University of Colorado faculty member Gregg Macaluso will speak on a topic that’s dominated headlines for months: the supply-chain crunch. 

His presentation will touch on potential causes of the problem such as disparate supply-chain partners across the globe, logistics restraints exaggerated by COVID-19, unexpected demand spikes, and unpredictable events such as the Suez Canal blockage.

Just when will the supply-chain crisis end?

“There are as many opinions on that as there are people who work in the supply chain,” Macaluso said.

Mike Kercheval, executive director of the CU Real Estate Center, will touch on an issue that’s top of mind for both business owners and the general public alike: real estate.

Colorado is experiencing a “hot residential market, but an even hotter industrial and warehouse market,” in part due to supply-chain issues and increased popularity of e-commerce, said Brian Lewandowski, executive director of the research division at CU Boulder’s Leeds School of Business.

To round out Monday’s symposium, Lewandowski and Rich Wobbekind, associate dean and senior economist at the CU Boulder Leeds School of Business, will provide a comprehensive outlook of Colorado’s economy looking ahead to 2022.

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