A New Ballot Initiative to Secure Colorado’s Workforce and Economic Future
Colorado Succeeds files a statewide ballot initiative to expand access to job-aligned training for 5,000 Coloradans per year, fill critical workforce gaps, and help more people move into good, living-wage careers
For nearly two decades, Colorado Succeeds has worked alongside business leaders, educators, and policymakers to ensure Colorado’s education system prepares people for opportunity and equips employers with the talent they need to grow and compete.
Today, nearly three-quarters of jobs in Colorado require education or training beyond high school, yet only about half of working-age Coloradans have a postsecondary credential. This leaves thousands of good, living-wage jobs unfilled while too many Coloradans remain locked out of economic mobility simply because they cannot afford short-term, job-aligned training. This growing gap between opportunity and talent is one of the most urgent challenges facing Colorado’s economy.
That is why we are proud to announce a new statewide ballot initiative that represents the natural evolution of Colorado Succeeds’ work: a durable, voter-approved investment in short-term, in-demand credentials that create real pathways to economic mobility for Coloradans and a reliable pipeline of homegrown talent for Colorado companies.
As Colorado Succeeds approaches its 20th anniversary this July, we believe the most meaningful way to mark this milestone is not by looking back, but by building forward, creating sustainable, high-impact pathways that help Coloradans learn, earn, and succeed, while also helping employers grow with confidence. This initiative sits squarely at the heart of our mission and reflects the purpose that has guided our work from the beginning.
This initiative would establish the Skilled Workers and Trades Fund, dedicated exclusively to funding scholarships for essential jobs such as nursing, construction, skilled trades, firefighting, teaching, and other high-demand careers that pay living wages and are resilient to disruption from automation and artificial intelligence. These are the jobs Colorado’s economy depends on, and the jobs employers are struggling to fill.
To learn more about how the Skilled Workers and Trades Fund supports Colorado’s workforce and to view frequently asked questions, please click here.
A Dedicated, Responsible Revenue Source
This initiative is funded without raising taxes by responsibly leveraging a long-standing Colorado asset: Pinnacol Assurance.
Pinnacol was created to support Colorado’s workforce and economy by serving employers in high-risk and hard-to-insure industries. Under this proposal, Pinnacol would operate fully independently from state government, transitioning to a tax-paying company like other insurers, while continuing to serve its core mission and policyholders.
As part of that transition, the initiative dedicates new revenue generated from Pinnacol’s full separation to workforce education and training through the Skilled Workers and Trades Fund. This includes a one-time contribution to launch the fund, along with ongoing, recurring revenue that can be reinvested year after year in the skills Colorado’s economy depends on.
Colorado has a long tradition of using state-created assets to fund shared priorities without raising taxes, including lottery proceeds to protect parks and open space, gaming revenue to support community colleges, and tobacco settlement funds to expand access to healthcare. This initiative follows that same practical, Colorado-tested approach: aligning a legacy asset with a clear public purpose.
By creating a stable, voter-approved funding stream, this measure avoids reliance on annual budget cycles and ensures that workforce training investments can be sustained, scaled, and held accountable over time.
Building on What Works in Colorado
This initiative does not start from scratch. It builds directly on the progress Colorado has already made through proven, bipartisan efforts, including Care Forward Colorado, Career Advance Colorado, Opportunity Now Colorado, and the work of the Apprenticeship Colorado Office.
Together, these initiatives demonstrated something powerful: when we remove financial barriers to short-term, job-aligned training, people complete programs, employers hire, and communities benefit. This ballot measure takes those lessons statewide and makes them permanent, ensuring Colorado can sustain and scale what works, year after year, regardless of budget cycles or political shifts.
Impact at Scale, With Accountability
Once fully implemented, this initiative will support approximately 5,000 Coloradans each year in earning credentials that lead directly to employment in high-demand fields. Over time, that means tens of thousands of Coloradans moving into good jobs, higher wages, and long-term career pathways.
Critically, the initiative is structured to invest only in success. Funding is limited to evidence-based education and training programs with a demonstrated history of completion and employment outcomes, and scholarships are reimbursed only after a learner completes their training — ensuring public dollars are spent on results, not promises. Programs must meet clear standards for job placement, return on investment, and alignment with labor-market demand, so learners gain skills employers value and businesses can hire with confidence.
This design reflects a simple principle: public investment should follow outcomes. When training works, it gets funded. When it doesn’t, no money is spent.
Aligning Education With Real Labor Market Demand
The Skilled Workers and Trades Fund is intentionally business-led and student-centered. It would be governed by a board representing Colorado employers and the workers who power the state’s most in-demand industries, ensuring decisions are grounded in real labor-market needs and on-the-ground experience. Business leadership helps keep training aligned with the skills employers are actually hiring for, while a student-centered focus ensures the system remains accessible, practical, and responsive to the needs of working learners. This structure allows the fund to remain agile by adjusting priority occupations, credentials, and investments as industry needs evolve, so funding stays aligned with the changing dynamics of Colorado’s labor market.
Too often, workforce funding flows to programs that are disconnected from what employers actually need. This initiative flips that script. It directs investment toward credentials that Colorado companies are actively demanding, ensuring that when learners complete training, good jobs are waiting.
For employers, this means a stronger, more predictable talent pipeline.
For learners, it means confidence that their time and effort will lead to real opportunity.
For voters, it means smarter use of public dollars with measurable returns.
Positioning Colorado as a National Leader
With this initiative, Colorado has the opportunity to lead the nation in how public dollars are invested in workforce education and training, not by funding more programs, but by funding better outcomes. By combining clear labor-market alignment, strong accountability, and long-term stability, Colorado can set a new national standard for how states help people move from learning to earning.
At its core, this effort reflects our mission and our belief in Colorado’s people: when education is aligned with opportunity, and opportunity is accessible to all, Colorado succeeds.
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