We are facing significant challenges in Colorado and the United States – income inequality, access to quality education, skyrocketing housing prices, congestion and crumbling infrastructure, rising healthcare costs and growing climate concerns. Here in Colorado, we are also facing changes to family medical leave, minimum wage, and our health-care system. Politicians love to meet with business owners and stress the importance of industry to their district, but recent policies across state capitals have increasingly targeted businesses, making the ease and cost of doing business more challenging. What then is the role of business to help solve and contribute to the solutions that will positively impact families, communities and the environment?

Business IS good for Colorado, from employers and business owners across our diverse economy, to our customers, and ultimately, our most important asset -our employees. I am proud to champion the interests of business on behalf of our partners and greater business community. We need to not only discuss the positive benefits of business, but also work with our elected officials to ensure the policies that impact business are fair, balanced, and do no harm.

Colorado Business Roundtable (COBRT) represents many of America’s largest employers, and we recognize that business can and should be a positive, driving force to improve the lives of our employees, customers and yes, our planet. The national Business Roundtable (BRT), our nation’s most powerful business organization comprised of CEOs of Fortune 200 companies, recently released a Statement of Purpose that redefines the value proposition from shareholders to stakeholders, a concept we fully embrace at COBRT.

The Business Roundtable recognizes there isn’t a more challenging issue for our country than how to preserve our free market system while ensuring that the benefits of capitalism flow to every American. These challenges will occupy us for some time to come, but we believe our new statement will give companies a stronger framework for doing their part to address them. Businesses need to work with policymakers in a bipartisan manner to enact the kind of reforms that ensure everyone can share in the nation’s economic growth.

The BRT’s Statement of Purpose outlines six key tenets: delivering value to our customers; investing in our employees; dealing fairly and ethically with our suppliers; supporting the communities in which we work; generating long-term value for our shareholders; and recognizing each of our stakeholders is essential to our overall success.

BRT companies are individually focusing on increasing wages of their employees so all working employees garner a living wage, investing in skills training, increasing access to education, and promoting long-termism.

Critics feel the statement doesn’t go far enough and the mere act of announcing a mission, vision, or statement of purpose is not enough. I am confident Colorado business leaders understand this and are committed to not only the ideals of the statement, but also putting them into action.

To that list, we should add focusing on sustainability initiatives; a redefined purpose-driven, diversity-centric hiring strategy; new upskilling and reskilling workforce initiatives; delivering to customers environmentally and socially sustainable products and services that help society pursue a fulfilling future; using corporate brands and political influence to support systemic changes that ensure equitable opportunities for all, and acknowledging that the very resources upon which businesses depend on are limited, and business models that thrive within the available resources our great planet are needed.

“The American dream is alive, but fraying,” said Jaime Dimon, Chairman and CEO of JPMorgan Chase & Co. and chairman of the Business Roundtable. “Major employers are investing in their workers and communities because they know it is the only way to be successful over the long term. These modernized principles reflect the business community’s unwavering commitment to continue to push for an economy that serves all Americans.”

Businesses play a vital role in the economy by creating jobs, fostering innovation, and providing essential goods and services. The creation of economic opportunity in the form of goods and services, and the millions of new jobs and services that underpin economic growth are the catalyst for economic prosperity for all Coloradans.

I believe that corporations not only have the unique ability to use their resources and talents to drive change on a global scale, and that as business leaders, they genuinely care about their stakeholders and have an underlying desire to do right by their employees and customers. Policy makers should embrace our desire to drive positive change for our stakeholders and recognize the value business generates for our communities. Business leaders should take on enhanced roles in addressing societal needs, leading from the front instead of being asked to shoulder the financial burdens after the fact.

As we approach the 2020 legislative session, I challenge our elected officials to take the time to meet with two or three additional businesses that would be impacted by proposed legislation, to actively listen to business concerns, cooperatively work to expand the “Overton Window” and reach beneficial compromises that do not hurt the very businesses that are generating good-paying jobs and economic opportunities in the districts they represent. Similarly, I challenge business leaders to meet with legislators, attend town halls, voice your concerns on legislation, testify at the Capitol, and be a force for good within not only the walls of your company, but your communities and our state.

As the Business Roundtable’s Statement of Purpose outlines, Americans deserve an economy that allows each person to succeed through hard work and creativity and to lead a life of meaning and dignity. We believe the free-market system is the best means of generating good jobs, a strong and sustainable economy, innovation, a healthy environment, and economic opportunity for all. 

Together we can build and maintain that vision – a Colorado that works for all. We remain committed to working with our A, B, C, G (academia, business, community, government) partners to building a better Colorado.

Jeff Wasden in president of the Colorado Business Roundtable.