Metro Boulder is the No. 3 STEM job markets in the country, according to a new report by NerdWallet, with roughly 140 of every 1,000 jobs belonging to a STEM occupation. The company formulated an index based on the size of an area's STEM employment base and how much those occupations are paid. Boulder came in at 62.1, behind Huntsville, AL (76.4) and San Jose (75). STEM employment generally means higher absorption of office and specialized industrial space, as well as retail space, since STEM workers make so much more than average. Some of the largest employers in the area are STEM: IBM, Oracle and Ball Corp, which also includes Boulder-based Ball Aerospace & Technologies. [NerdWallet]
Greater Denver is also No. 5 in startup activity, according to the Kauffman Index, prepared by the Kauffman Foundation of Kansas City, which promotes entrepreneurship. Since successful new businesses have a way of taking more office space as they grow, a healthy entrepreneurial climate's good for the office market. The index is based on the number of the local adults who became entrepreneurs in a given month; the percentage of entrepreneurs who didn't start a business because of unemployment; and the number of startups per 100,000 population. Austin topped the list, followed by Miami, San Jose, LA and then Denver. [Kauffman]
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