Business News
Published October 15, 2026 2:11pm
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Updated October 15, 2026 8:45pm
Colorado Springs is not one of the best places to do business in the United States. It’s the best.
At least that’s what Bluevine, which bills itself as the largest small business banking platform in the nation, thinks. In a list released Thursday morning, Colorado Springs beat out the likes of the Denver metro area, Raleigh, N.C., Salt Lake City, Utah and Kansas City, Mo./Kan.
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During a small event celebrating the win, city leaders and small business owners gathered to share what they believe sets Colorado Springs apart. For restaurant owner Brother Luck, it is the community within the city.
“I love how leaders, entrepreneurs, small business owners and even our corporate partners all work together,” he said after the celebration. Luck knows it’s not easy, especially as a restaurant owner, but Colorado Springs and its regional partners have made starting a business “approachable,” he said.
Local chef and restaurant owner Brother Luck speaks about his experience as a small-business owner during an Oct. 15, 2026, event. Colorado Springs was named the best city in the nation for small businesses, according to a Bluevine national study released Thursday. (Alex Edwards, The Gazette)
“There’s a relationship that you don’t see. There’s a partnership with our government, there’s a partnership with our regional offices to get things built, to get things approved, to get permits done,” he said.
Luck’s restaurant venture, Four by Brother Luck, earned national recognition after winning a recommendation from Michelin. It opened in 2017.
Running a business in Colorado Springs means founders must adhere to state and city regulations. While Colorado Springs may be a great city for small businesses, entities like the Colorado Chamber Foundation are worried that the state’s regulatory environment is stymieing business development, retention and attraction.
Though the state is rated as the 11th most business-friendly state in the nation and improving, according to the Colorado Chamber of Commerce, it is also the 6th most regulated state in the nation. In 2025, roughly two-thirds of business owners surveyed by the Chamber said Colorado’s economy is on the wrong track.
So what makes Colorado Springs different? Businesspeople have told Mayor Yemi Mobolade that the city moves “at the speed of business.” The city uses its rapid-response program to fast-track land-use applications and building permits for qualifying primary employers, affordable housing developments and childcare centers, it said.
“One of the reasons I fought business licensing is because … I know the wisdom behind that but I want to make the (barriers) so low that anybody can start a business,” Mobolade said. “On the state level there are things that I can’t control, and my hope is that the state looks at us as an example for the future of the state.”
Mayor Yemi Mobolade addresses a crowd and celebrates Colorado Springs being named the best city in America for small business on Thursday, Oct. 15, 2026. (Alex Edwards, The Gazette)
The rapid response approach has been applied to the UCHealth North Campus Expansion, hangar expansion projects at the airport, the proposed artificial intelligence data center known as Project Taurus and a graphics processing unit test laboratory. The latter two have prompted considerable consternation among residents throughout the city, The Gazette reported previously.
Despite warnings from the Colorado Chamber of Commerce, the state performed remarkably well in Bluevine’s evaluation. Three metros — Colorado Springs, Denver and Greeley — landed in the top 15. This shows the state is a “great place for entrepreneurs looking to start a small business,” said Bluevine CEO and Co-Founder Eyal Lifshitz.
“When looking through the methodology Bluevine developed for the study, Colorado Springs performed exceptionally well in business growth and in our internal Bluevine data sets — meaning that the city is seeing an influx of small businesses and our data shows that those businesses are seeing strong annual growth in account balances,” said Lifshitz.
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