Please ensure Javascript is enabled for purposes of website accessibility

Tag: Common Sense Institute

Celebrating Women’s History Month: Meet the Women Leaders Behind the Common Sense Institute

Women’s History Month is celebrated annually during the month of March in the United States — a time for recognizing and honoring the contributions that women have made throughout American history. The month-long celebration began as a week-long event in 1980, when President Jimmy Carter declared the week of March 8 as National Women’s History Week. In 1987, the week was expanded to a month-long celebration, and it has been observed every year since.

Here at ColoradoBiz, we seek opportunities to spotlight exceptional women leading our state. There are numerous women who are making significant contributions and achieving in various fields, including business, politics, education, arts and culture. Trying to choose just one is a good problem to have.

READ: Guest Column — Fighting Gender Politics in the Home Improvement Industry

However, occasionally an individual or group surfaces that we simply can’t look past. For us, that’s the women driving the Common Sense Institute (CSI), a nonpartisan research organization committed to providing objective research and analysis on public policy issues.

With state chapters in Arizona and Colorado, CSI has become a leading voice for free enterprise across the country. Focusing on eight different policy categories ranging from housing and education to health care and transportation, the organization has taken center stage in policy discussions and sparked thoughtful, innovative solutions around the country.

CSI is led by Kristin Strohm, who serves as the organization’s president and CEO. Strohm was one of the original founders of CSI and assumed the leadership of the organization in 2018. One important aspect of CSI’s success is its commitment to diversity and inclusion, especially diverse viewpoints, and including gender diversity in leadership.

In 2022, Common Sense Institute was a finalist for ColoradoBiz’s Top Company award and captured this insight from its president and CEO, Kristin Strohm.

READ: How to Hire with Diversity in Mind

Under Strohm’s leadership, CSI has built a leadership team comprised of women, something quite rare among think tanks, according to national data. A 2018 study found that women only made up 30% of highest-paid employees. In Colorado, only 5% of 122 publicly traded companies have a female CEO and only 13% of executive officers in Colorado are women.

In a nod to Women’s History Month, Strohm recently highlighted her all-female team leading CSI with some key hires, including:

A look at their backgrounds proves that CSI (and Colorado) are lucky to have such accomplished and talented women within their leadership team.

In addition to promoting female leadership within the organization, CSI has also worked to promote women’s voices in public policy debates in Colorado. For instance, following COVID the organization played a pivotal role in identifying the “shesession.” In an opinion column penned by Strohm, she called on policymakers to take notice of the crisis and act.

“To be clear: A generation of progress for women in the workplace in Colorado could be reversed if we do not take immediate action to understand and ultimately solve this problem,” Strohm said. “Further, we cannot talk about re-opening the economy without a real plan for childcare and education as these jobs in the home tend to fall on women.”

That’s a strong, bold and true statement.

Pointing to her list of accredited fellows, Strohm credits diversity as a key differentiator and for playing a critical role in the organization. She says it’s their “secret sauce” and the strength behind their non-partisan brand. They seek to look beyond the rhetoric and political spin — to bridge the divide and deliver the facts and analysis that drive public policy.

With the political and policy troubles Colorado continues to face, to say that we need a solid dose of common sense would be a gross understatement. Thankfully we have women leaders like Strohm and others at CSI stepping up to take Colorado’s problems head on.

 

Jon Haubert Hb Legacy Media Co 2Jon Haubert is the publisher of ColoradoBiz magazine. Email him at [email protected].

Housing Affordability Crisis in Colorado: Denver, Colorado Springs and Grand Junction See No Signs of Improvement

The real estate market may have cooled by some measures, but the housing affordability crisis is still a serious problem in three major markets — Denver, Colorado Springs and Grand Junction – and isn’t showing any signs of improving.

Common Sense Institute, a Denver-based research organization, released results of three studies focusing on the supply of housing, the demand, permitting activity and an analysis of affordability.

READ: The Economics of Housing Inflation in Colorado — Exploring the Supply and Demand Imbalance

The takeaway: “Our housing crisis continues,” said CSI Senior Economist Steven Byers. “Costs are rising for a limited supply and the ability to purchase a home is shrinking for many Coloradans.”

According to the studies, released Feb. 2, housing supplies in all three communities are falling well behind the demand.

“Recent drops in the levels of permitting in each city indicate a new trend, where there won’t be enough new housing units to meet the needs of the projected population growth and fill the existing gaps and stabilize the market,” Byers said.

Key findings of the housing studies:

  • The ability to purchase a home is increasingly difficult. Since 2015, when the Colorado Homebuyer Misery Index surpassed the national average, the affordability of purchasing a new home in Denver has decreased by 101%, by 106% in Colorado Springs and by 96% in Grand Junction. Nationally, affordability has decreased by 86% during that same period.
  • Paying the average mortgage takes more work. Since 2019, the year before the start of the pandemic, the number of hours of work at the average weekly wage required to afford a mortgage on the average priced home has increased by 70% in Denver (61 hours to 104 hours), 76% in Colorado Springs (58 hours to 102 hours) and 74% in Grand Junction (57 hours to 99 hours).
  • Current levels of permitting for new housing may not be enough. To both meet the needs of the projected population growth and to fill the existing gap in housing supply, Denver will need to permit between 5,187 and 8,151 new residential units per year. Colorado Springs will need to permit between 4,730 and 6,485 units. Grand Junction will need to permit between 526 and 779 units.

To read the complete studies and explore the housing affordability crisis, visit commonsenseinstituteco.com.

The Success of Our Economy Depends on Accessible, Affordable Child Care 

The success of a flourishing economy, community, and workforce is dependent upon child care that is both accessible and affordable. Yet the business model for providing child care services in Colorado has been strained for years, leading to an ongoing decline of both supply and access.  

Consider the facts. From April 2018 to April 2021, a total of 913 child care programs permanently closed in Colorado but only 486 programs opened. As of the most recent data, Colorado has a child care gap of 94,887 children. This means that 38% of children in the state need a child care slot but their families cannot reasonably access one. 

Without access to affordable child care, parents and, more specifically, mothers, are left with the difficult decision of continuing to work for a paycheck or staying home to care for their children. If Colorado’s May labor force participation rate of women was the same as it was before the COVID-19 pandemic, there would be 43,581 more women in the state’s workforce. While child care is not the only reason women are leaving the workforce, it is a significant one. 

The Department of Health and Human Services recommends that affordable child care should cost no more than 7% of a family’s annual income. Yet Colorado families are spending closer to 18% of their annual income on child care, making Colorado the eighth most expensive state for child care in the nation. While affordability is an issue for Coloradan families, child care businesses are also struggling. Child care operators face high occupancy and fixed costs, leading to little to no flexibility in revenue generation.  

Common Sense Institute’s partnership and collaboration with Executives Partnering to Invest in Children (EPIC) brought to fruition a comprehensive analysis of the razor-thin profit margins with which child care businesses have to work.  

Like almost all industries across the state, the child care industry faces the challenge of workforce recruitment and retention. Since the profit margins are so thin, it is difficult for child care businesses to compete with other industries’ wages. Policymakers and business leaders should look for opportunities to reduce ongoing facility expenses, like commercial property taxes, rent, debt, and other taxes for child care businesses. Underutilized real estate owned by public entities, political subdivisions, and faith-based institutions may present an ideal opportunity for child care businesses to thrive.  

Child care businesses are crucial for enhancing early childhood development by teaching social, emotional, and behavioral intelligence skills to children while their parents are working.  

The financial barriers to entry for a child care business are substantial. The exploration of new methods to offer a co-signing or guarantee program could be beneficial to the child care industry and allow more businesses and programs to enter the market. 

On top of the significant financing that child care businesses require to get started, the regulatory environment is difficult to navigate as well. Those looking to start a child care business are often discouraged by the hurdles they have to jump over to get the proper licensing and meet all requirements. State and local regulatory partners should explore ways to streamline the application, review, and approval processes for child care businesses. Providing a single point of contact who can serve as a navigator and liaison throughout the child care business process could simplify the struggles and potentially allow for more child care businesses to get started and prosper.  

The lack of supply of child care slots and the inaccessibility to affordable child care is a significant issue for Colorado families and the economy. If the challenges plaguing the child care business model are not addressed, the current system that provides child care in Colorado communities will quickly lead to less access for fewer children and families. To become sustainable, the funding and regulatory environment governing the child care business model needs to be overhauled. 

To read the full study, visit www.commonsenseinstituteco.org. 

Common Sense Institute (CSI) is a non-partisan research organization dedicated to the protection and promotion of Colorado’s economy. CSI’s mission is to examine the fiscal impacts of policies, initiatives, and proposed laws so that Coloradans are educated and informed on issues impacting their lives.  

Executives Partnering to Invest in Children (EPIC) is a group of prestigious business executives partnering to serve as the business community’s non-partisan voice for early childhood. As leaders in their companies and industries, EPIC Members are leaving a legacy of true impact and lasting change by leading efforts to build infrastructure and advance policies that support the workforce of today while developing the workforce of tomorrow. 

Kristin StrohmKristin Strohm is President & CEO of Common Sense Institute and Nicole Riehl is President & CEO of EPIC .  Nicole Riehl