LETTER: Let’s Test Workforce Training in Rural Colorado

By Gleb Tsipursky

Colorado received a $6.74 million federal workforce-training award in September covering advanced manufacturing, information technology, AI infrastructure, and other fields. Communities such as Pagosa Springs deserve a practical question answered: what will this mean for workers outside the Front Range?

Rural employers need people who can handle real exceptions. An employee using AI to draft a customer estimate must recognize when a mountain delivery route, unusual repair, or seasonal staffing shortage changes the calculation. No generic demonstration can teach that local judgment.

Training programs should pair new technology with paid, supervised exercises using realistic local scenarios. Learners should inspect a proposed estimate, find a missing fact, correct it, and explain their reasoning to a customer or supervisor. The final assessment should measure that skill.

The need is urgent. A Stanford study updated in August found weakening employment outcomes among young workers in AI-exposed roles. If employers automate the assignments that used to teach new staff, fewer people will develop practical expertise.

Colorado can use its workforce investment to keep that pathway open. Set aside training opportunities for rural communities, pay attention to apprentices’ progress, and publish results showing who can independently handle a difficult task. Faster software is useful. More capable workers will sustain the region.

Gleb Tsipursky, PhD, is author of ‘The Psychology of AI Adoption at Work: From Resistance to Results’ (Georgetown University Press, 2026)