The Denver Metro Chamber of Commerce hosted a crowd of 500 civic leaders decked out in western wear Thursday, for a look at the new Stockyards Event Center behind the National Western grounds — perfect showcase for Colorado’s many attractions that reach out to corporations wanting to expand.

But six experts who spoke to the crowd, each of them a national consultant to Fortune 500 companies on where to select project sites, hoisted warning flags about practices that could be losing business to competitors like Texas and Utah.

Conversations with those “site selectors” are a featured attraction yearly at the Chamber’s Site Selection Conference arranged by the chamber’s Economic Development Corporation. The event was capped this year by the western-themed dinner, including a roundtable discussion with those experts.

Not in the least question was the value of the lifestyle Colorado offers in attracting a superior workforce.

“The quality of life is the best,” Steve Brunson with C&I professionals told the crowd. He added that commute times in the Denver area, and the availability of bioscience and other technology resources were marked advantages.

Experts also flagged Denver International Airport’s expansion — enabling better direct connections to international customers — along with Colorado’s better-than-average educated workforce.

But selection professionals quickly wrapped up the kudos and moved on to a longer discussion of areas in which they see Colorado lacking, starting with regulations that slow new project development.

“Colorado is viewed as business friendly,” said Larry Gigerich, veteran of some 600 economic development projects representing $12 billion in capital investments, according to his profile.

“Just taking longer (to approve projects for development) is a thing to keep an eye on,” he cautioned.

Brunson told the assemblage that corporations viewing expansions are continually asking themselves: “How quick can I get shovels in the ground?”

That answer can typically be three-to-four months in some Texas competitor locations, Brunson added. On some corporate scale projects, he said: “If the answer is six to eight months, every month is $90 million to the client.”

“Speed is going to be the most important thing now,” added Jim Renzas, an expert witness to the U.S. Senate Finance Committee on federal incentive programs to encourage the redevelopment of distressed communities.

Among other issues that panelists flagged as potential weaknesses for Colorado in competing for expansion projects: taxes, energy load capacity, and the regulatory pipeline for getting artificial intelligence-related projects approved. AI projects are already facing legislative hurdles in some states and in Canada, they said.

“If you can’t get power (available for a project) quickly, it’s off the list,” said Brunson.

Consultants were openly skeptical as to whether solar, wind and other renewable sources often trumpeted by state development and energy officials, can realistically meet the demands of AI and other projects of a size that can make meaningful contributions to the state’s economic growth.

Consultant Mike Falleroni, a principal at Ryan, LLC, specializing in data center incentives, told the group: “It’s not wind and solar.”

Coming projects, he added, could singularly require a gigawatt of added capacity, in addition to new storage systems to maintain load reliability.

“The site selectors didn’t hold back, and that’s exactly what we wanted,” said Raymond H. Gonzales, president of Metro Denver Economic Development Corporation, the chamber’s economic development arm, following the gathering.

“Having legislators in the room to hear firsthand how policy decisions influence Colorado’s competitiveness is critical. When policymakers and our private sector members come together in honest dialogue,” Gonzales added. “That collaboration is what will ultimately strengthen Colorado’s business climate and ensure our communities continue to thrive.”

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