Author: Dawn Thilmany

Redi Reports

Economic Contribution of the Green Industry for Colorado in 2024: A 2026 Update

  • August 2026
Colorado’s allied Green industry generated between $6.54 billion and $11.29 billion in total economic activity in 2024, including $3.74 billion to $6.42 billion in direct industry output. The industry supported between 39,890 and 68,279 jobs statewide, generated $2.45–4.23 billion in labor income, and contributed $4.21–7.10 billion in value added to Colorado’s economy.…
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Redi Reports

Risks and Opportunities for Western Agricultural Producers in Direct to Consumer Beef Markets

  • February 2026
Direct marketing by Colorado beef producers is a growing opportunity that leverages interest in local foods and demand for more food market options There are several strategies producers can adopt to direct market beef, all with different market strategies and new risks to consider Communities will likely benefit from more direct marketed beef if it allows more of the food dollar to stay with farms (and processors) in their region but policy leaders should consider how to help mitigate risks producer face in these markets Introduction and Background Since 2020, an increasing number of producers are realizing how reliant the cattle processing sector is on the 4 largest cattle processors which has led to an increase of smaller meat processing facilities and direct to consumer beef (Miller 2022).…
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Redi Reports

Regionalizing the Food Dollar: Exploring Distributions across Sectors and Places

  • February 2025
Farmer’s share of the US Food Dollar averaged 11.6% in 2020, but that varies greatly across states, with Colorado’s farm share being just over 12%. Food service, food processing and retail services capture the highest share of the US food dollar, and those numbers vary by location as well, but highlight the role agricultural production can play in broader agribusiness activity.…
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Redi Reports

Piloting a Fee-for-Service Dehydration Program for Hunger Relief and Local Fruit Growers

  • July 2024
Western Slope fruit and vegetable producers currently lack access to infrastructure needed to pursue value-added processing opportunities due to capital, labor and scale concerns. An innovative model for a revenue-generating dehydration service at the West Slope Branch of Food Bank of the Rockies in collaboration with regional fruit producers may complement efforts to match producers, new value-added facilities and hunger relief efforts.…
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Redi Reports

Wage Disparities Among Mexican Indigenous Farmworkers in the U.S. Agricultural Sector

  • June 2024
There is a wage gap between indigenous and non-indigenous Mexican-born farmworkers with indigenous workers taking home 5.25% less in pay. Lower education levels, fewer years of farmwork experience, higher proportions of undocumented status, and lower English proficiency are among the factors contributing to the wage gap.…
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Redi Reports

The Proposed Denver Ordinance Banning Animal Slaughter: Implications for the Animal Sector and Economy

  • May 2024
There is a proposed ordinance to ban the operation of existing and future livestock harvest operations in Denver, a hub of lamb processing for the state and nation, representing 15- 20% of US lamb harvest capacity. The most pessimistic potential economic impact to the Colorado economy is a reduction of $861 million in current economic activity and 2,787 jobs after accounting for multiplier effects.…
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Redi Reports

Coloradans’ Views on Farm Labor: A Closer Look at the 2022 Public Perceptions and Attitudes about Colorado Agriculture Survey

  • January 2024
Approximately 98% of Coloradans surveyed agreed that Colorado’s food and ag industry is important to the state’s future economic development. Over 75% feel that it is very or somewhat important that farm/ranch labor is treated fairly in terms of pay and working conditions when making food purchasing decisions.…
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Redi Reports

The Ownership of Enterprise in Colorado: Agricultural and Community-Based Cooperatives

  • December 2022
A cooperative is a business that is owned and controlled by the people who use its In 2020, there were 25 farm cooperatives headquartered in Colorado with 20,000+ Many other types of coops also exist that serve the agricultural, farm, and food communities Cooperatives represent an important form of business organization in Colorado, both in terms of number of members and net business volumes.…
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Redi Reports

The Changing Face of Food Retailing: Growth in Online Platforms during COVID

  • April 2022
COVID accelerated the move to online sales platforms for food purchases Delivery and curbside pickup of online food purchases have held steady or grown across all market channels during the pandemic Adoption of online sales may persist among some buyers, while others will choose to return to stores and restaurants, offering food enterprises more options to market their products The COVID-19 pandemic and associated public health and social distancing mandates caused unprecedented shifts and disruptions for local and regional food systems (LRFS).…
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Redi Reports

Relationships Between Agritourism Operations and Place-Based Factors

  • February 2018
Agritourism has been recognized as an entrepreneurial activity that has the potential to diversify agricultural businesses and stimulate rural development of surrounding communities From 2007-2012, the number of farms and ranches with agritourism in the S. grew 42%, and grew 27% in Colorado Most Colorado agritourism operations and counties with high agritourism revenues are located near natural capital and/or assets, such as those in the Rocky Mountain region, or near urban centers with a population drawn to natural amenities such as the Front Range Agritourism is any recreational or educational activity on a working farm or ranch for which consumers pay.…
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Redi Reports

Is the Local Food Table Getting Crowded? Exploring the Effect of Food Hub Proliferation on Viability

  • August 2019
The entry of additional food hubs in a county may cannibalize sales of incumbent Food hubs require more potential buyers in a market than traditional merchant Counties with a high level of social capital and that have small local food businesses may be able to lower the population threshold necessary for a food hub to be viable.…
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Redi Reports

The Tale of Two Food Supply Chains: Exploring the Emerging Bimodal Structure of U.S. Food and Beverage Manufacturing

  • December 2019
There are a number of competitive strategic positions emerging in the food manufacturing sector Consumer trends and new competitive factors have resulted in a bimodal structure in a number of food and beverage subsectors, several of which are presented as case studies here Such restructuring may provide market access and economic development opportunities Consumers continue to show strong interest in locally-produced, niche and artisanal food brands, but even so, the level of consolidation in national food brands persists.…
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Redi Reports

The Economic Contribution of Nourish Colorado’s Fruit and Vegetable Incentive Program

  • December 2020
In 2018 Nourish Colorado’s Double Up Food Bucks program provided $167,911 of incentives that resulted in $452K of economic impact to Colorado’s economy Fruit and vegetable incentive programs provide economy-wide benefits in addition to the health benefits for low-income families of more affordable produce Food assistance programs take many forms.…
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Webinars

Innovation and Resiliency in the COVID Era

  • February 24, 2021
Colorado Humanities and the Regional Economic Development Institute at Colorado State University feature panelists Dr. Stephan Weiler, Elizabeth Garner, Kat Papenbrock, Dr. Michael Seman, and Greg Thomason discussing the challenges in economic innovation faced by rural Coloradans, never more so than during the COVID era. Moderated by Dr.…
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Webinars

Welcome to Change in Rural Colorado – Loving Our Land

  • March 23, 2021
Colorado Humanities and the Regional Economic Development Institute at Colorado State University feature panelists Sonja Chavez from the Upper Gunnison River Water Conservancy District, Heather Knight from the Center for Collaborative Conservation, Wade Shelton from the Trust for Public Lands, and Mike Lester from the Colorado State Forest Service discussing natural resource assets, water headlands, and conservation efforts in Colorado.…
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