A recent report from Colorado’s Office of Economic Development and International Trade called the Colorado Blueprint examined how the state can be more competitive. The authors interviewed thousands of Coloradans to determine economic opportunities and priorities. Six core objectives were identified, and an important one was to retain, grow and recruit companies.

Unfortunately, many of the resources that can help us retain, grow and recruit companies are being funneled specifically into startups. While these businesses are sexy and attention-getting, they present tremendous risk and suffer enormous failure rates.

We must ask if this strategy provides an adequate return on our investment, or whether it simply perpetuates our historic boom-bust cycle.

It’s important to look at what kind of companies thrive in Colorado and can be considered high-impact — companies that experience high revenue and employment growth. It takes much less effort to grow and retain Colorado’s existing high-impact businesses than cultivating startups or attracting companies to relocate to Colorado, for that matter.

Cultivating these high-impact firms, primarily small businesses with fewer than 20