Brandon Leuallen, The Business Times 

The 2025 Mesa County Workforce Summit, held Jan. 29 at Colorado Mesa University, brought together local business leaders and workforce professionals to discuss pressing workforce challenges, from wage-law changes to the growing influence of artificial intelligence.

The summit kicked off with a keynote address from Colorado Mesa University President John Marshall, who focused on the university’s role in preparing the local workforce. He emphasized the importance of education in creating opportunities.

“As we think about a better life through education, it starts with recognizing that in this backyard of ours, in western Colorado, we are disproportionately lagging in college attainment,” Marshall said.

He referenced a 2024 Gallup poll showing a decline in Americans’ trust in higher education, citing concerns about political agendas, irrelevant skills and high costs. Marshall highlighted CMU’s successful efforts to address these challenges head on, noting the university’s freshman class this year is the largest ever, and retention rates have improved significantly from 55 percent 20 years ago to 80 percent last year.

“I think the next 100 years are going to be owned by places like CMU that focus on what actually matters to families,” Marshall added.

He emphasized the university is committed to teaching students how to think, not what to think. Marshall said CMU has hosted speakers and debates from various backgrounds with the goal of encouraging respectful debate and disagreement.

“We’ve had no violent protests,” he said, crediting it to this approach.

Marshall spotlighted CMU’s growing emphasis on trade certification programs, recognizing that many local high school students and families see skilled trades as viable career paths.

“This is not a fallback position. These are honorable trades, skills, and careers that you can provide for a family,” he said.

Marshall discussed the university’s financial efforts, including tuition assistance for families earning less than $70,000, and the use of a geothermal-energy system that saves CMU $1.5 million per year, helping keep tuition affordable.

He also acknowledged the challenges of recruiting staff because of local housing costs and health-insurance concerns, which mirror issues faced by other local employers.

Key Employer Issues

Following the morning keynote, attendees participated in eight breakout sessions that addressed some of the most pressing challenges facing Mesa County employers. Topics ranged from internal fraud prevention and creative benefits to work-based learning opportunities and workplace disability awareness.

Attorney Michael Santo of Bechtel & Santo Employment Law covered recent changes in wage and hour laws, focusing on how employers can avoid common pitfalls.

“Where I see the liability happen the most frequently is wage and hour law,” Santo said.

He said employers not only face attorney fees, they’re also responsible for covering employees’ legal costs. He cited a recent case where the plaintiff’s legal fees had reached $32,000 before mediation.

“If you’re going to agree that you missed a commission of $2,000, you’re going to have to pay $2,000 plus $32,000,” he said, underscoring the concern for small businesses.

Santo also discussed updates to the Colorado Overtime and Minimum Pay Standards Order, including the introduction of individual liability for supervisors.

“Supervisors can be sued under this act,” Santo warned.

He highlighted changes that prevent employers from deducting down to the federal minimum wage, now requiring them to deduct only at the Colorado minimum wage of $14.81 per hour.

AI’s Impact on Business

The closing keynote speaker, Andreas Mueller-Shubert, CEO of WSI Next Gen Marketing, addressed the ever-expanding role of artificial intelligence in business operations. He explained that while large companies have been using AI for years, tools like ChatGPT marked a significant shift.

“Think of AI as a librarian that has read every book,” Mueller-Shubert said of the power of AI-driven technologies.

Mueller-Shubert urged businesses to adopt clear AI policies to ensure proper usage and alignment across teams. He also noted new AI-driven tools, such as Perplexity, are emerging as strong competitors to traditional search engines.

“Perplexity is the search engine of the future. Google is scared of it,” he said.

He predicted AI-driven chatbots will soon become ubiquitous in customer support, streamlining navigation and allowing staff to focus on more complex issues.

“You’re going to see chat bots everywhere,” Mueller-Shubert said, explaining the technology will mostly eliminate the need for manual website navigation.

Mueller-Shubert also pointed out AI-as-a-service business may soon replace the traditional software-as-a-service model. He cautioned companies that those who fail to adopt AI quickly could lose business to competitors who integrate it more effectively.

To close his talk, Mueller-Shubert raised concerns about privacy and national security risks posed by a Chinese-based app called DeepSeek that is currently one of the most downloaded worldwide. He warned that the app’s data centers are located in China, where companies are required by law to provide access to user data.

“This is a huge national security risk,” he said, explaining how he sees it as even more concerning than TikTok because TikTok’s data centers are not in China, but rather in the United States.