U.S. Secretary of Labor Lori Chavez-DeRemer made her first visit to Colorado since being sworn in to President Donald Trump’s cabinet in March on Wednesday.

The top official in the Department of Labor is traveling the country for her “America at Work” listening tour to hear from workers and employers about what federal policies are affecting the labor force. Colorado is the sixth state she’s visited so far.

Chavez-DeRemer visited Denver for the Colorado Business Roundtable’s Future of Work conference hosted at Empower Field’s conference lounge to discuss the Trump administration’s goals to balance the nation’s workforce with more trade jobs.

The labor secretary was the former mayor of Happy Valley, an Oregon town outside of Portland, before becoming a U.S. congresswoman in 2022 where she sat on several House committees covering agriculture, education and the workforce and transportation.

She also has experience as a business owner through her anesthesia management company.

On April 23, Trump signed an executive order directing the labor, education and commerce secretaries to come up with a plan addressing the nation’s workforce needs with a goal of supporting a million apprenticeships a year.

Chavez-DeRemer said Wednesday the administration will doll out federal funding to community colleges and trade schools where there is market demand to support the labor market, adding there’s been a “disconnect” between what jobs are open and what government agencies are funding.

“We’re just under about 700,000 (apprentices) annually,” she said to a crowd of state business leaders. “We have to grow that. What we want to do is fortify what’s already in place.”

But she added that they’re working to make sure there isn’t too much investment in trade jobs, that jobs requiring degrees are neglected, such as engineering or technology.

“We do not want that pendulum to swing back so far in the other direction that we’re only talking about trade. Or we’re only talking about skilled workers,” she said.

The labor secretary also said that for “far too long,” the cost of higher education hasn’t been producing enough workers with the required skills needed for the economy.

In an earlier panel of Colorado business leaders at the event, Jeanne Work – vice president of the southwest and west U.S. for engineering and construction firm Jacobs – said federal spending cuts were impacting the company.

“​​So much of the work we do is for public agencies,” Work said.

She added they’re remaining active despite cuts as there are other projects elsewhere in the world they can pivot their workforce to.

On the upside, Work added Trump’s massive cuts in the federal workforce is providing many opportunities for Jacobs to hire top talent that has been working at U.S. agencies.

“We’re excited to be able to evaluate how those folks can enhance our teams,” Work said.

In addition to federal cuts, Chavez-DeRemer reiterated Trump’s message that tariffs are working for the U.S. economy, citing steady job numbers and unemployment rates in April’s jobs report.

Many economists expect the job market to get hit by the trade wars at some point this year, though the labor secretary said she believes next month’s numbers will outperform again.

She added successes in the job market’s performance will come from growing manufacturing jobs across the U.S. and seeing investors spend more money within the country.

“I have a big job to do,” Chavez-DeRemer said.