For years at the Grand Junction Area Chamber of Commerce, we have been sounding the alarm about Colorado’s slipping business competitiveness. I have listened to employers explain that the cost and complexity of doing business in Colorado is becoming unsustainable. Too often, those concerns have been dismissed as political disagreement or resistance to change.

They shouldn’t have been.

Last week, CNBC released its annual rankings of America’s Top States for Business, and Colorado suffered one of the steepest declines in the nation, falling 14 places from 11th to 25th overall. We are not just slipping. This is a landslide, and Colorado is in economic danger.

As someone who has spent years working alongside employers of every size, I can tell you that this decline did not happen overnight. It is the result of countless policy decisions that, standing alone, were believed to have little consequence, but together have fundamentally altered the cost and complexity of doing business in Colorado.

CNBC identified major weaknesses in business friendliness, infrastructure, workforce, access to capital, and the broader economy. Perhaps most alarming was our collapse in infrastructure, where Colorado fell from 11th to 32nd in the nation in a single year. At the same time, our cost of living now ranks 49th among all 50 states, creating challenges for employers and families alike.

Housing is top of mind for nearly everyone, and for good reason. Employers cannot recruit talent if workers cannot afford to live where jobs exist. Young professionals cannot put down roots if homeownership remains out of reach. Families and businesses alike feel the pressure. These are symptoms of a larger problem.

Colorado businesses are navigating rising healthcare costs, workplace mandates, housing shortages, permitting delays, energy uncertainty, and an ever-growing web of regulations. Together, they are reshaping Colorado’s economic future.

These rankings are concerning, but what should truly command our attention is the speed at which Colorado is losing ground.

I have lost count of how many times I have heard some version of the same argument: “This one policy won’t break the backs of businesses.”

Maybe not. But business leaders are not experiencing these decisions one at a time.

A new fee here. Another mandate, regulation or compliance burden. Death by a thousand cuts is still death, even when each individual cut is dismissed as small or inconsequential.

Colorado’s 14-place fall in CNBC’s rankings is evidence of the compounding impact of years of policy decisions. Together, they are making our state less affordable, less predictable and less competitive.

Somewhere along the way, we began treating employers not as partners in solving Colorado’s challenges, but as the automatic funding source for every economic and social priority. We have come to assume that businesses will always absorb the next cost and obligation. The latest rankings suggest that assumption may no longer hold.

Every policy has a cost. At some point, Colorado must ask itself a difficult question: How do we compete for jobs, talent and investment when other states continue to impose fewer costs and barriers on the employers who create them?

Last year, the Grand Junction Chamber introduced a simple principle to guide our advocacy efforts: Do no harm. We believed the priority was preventing policies that would weaken Colorado’s competitiveness and erode our advantages.

Doing no further harm is no longer enough. Colorado must begin repairing the damage that has already been done.

That means taking a hard look at the cumulative impact of state policy. It means carefully evaluating election candidates for a pro-business mindset and scrutinizing ballot measures for impacts that extend far beyond their titles and brief descriptions.

Colorado remains an extraordinary place with resilient entrepreneurs, vibrant communities and a strong innovation economy.

But innovation alone cannot overcome a policy environment that increasingly makes it harder to start a business, grow a company, create jobs and invest in the future.

Reversing course will require more than chambers of commerce and trade associations sounding the alarm.

Here in Mesa County and across Western Colorado, we must continue to be truth-tellers about our state’s economic realities. We must advocate for policies that encourage investment, innovation and opportunity, and remain champions for the employers and entrepreneurs whose success strengthens our communities.

The conversation can no longer be about preserving Colorado’s competitiveness. We have already lost ground.

The question now is whether we have the courage to reclaim it.

Candace Carnahan is president and CEO of the Grand Junction Chamber, representing more than 700 employers and 45,000 employees across Mesa County.