Mathew Smith, vice president of United Launch Alliance, introduces the ULA team. (Cyrus McCrimmon, The Denver Post)

Despite a decrease in overall aerospace industry employment nationwide, Colorado in 2014 retained its No. 1 ranking in the nation for private aerospace employment as a percentage of total employment, according to data from the Metro Denver Economic Development Corp.

The state also retained its No. 3 rank in total private-sector aerospace employment, behind Florida and California.

The 2014 Colorado Aerospace Industry Cluster Profile doesn't contain many "aha" moments. In fact, it reveals that statewide aerospace employment actually decreased by 0.2 percent.

However, the decline was minimal compared with the nation overall.

"We obviously always want to see employment growth, but the fact that Colorado has been able to remain constant while the rest of the U.S. is experiencing a 2.6 percent decline shows we are holding steady and strong," Colorado Space Coalition director Vicky Lea said Friday.

This strength comes from Colorado's robust aerospace ecosystem, which combines a highly educated workforce; a scientific base that includes research universities and federal laboratories; eight of the United States' major space contractors, such as Lockheed Martin, Ball Aerospace and United Launch Alliance; a large military space presence; and a robust network of space-related small businesses.

But while this all positions Colorado for success, there are measures that must be taken to continue the state's aerospace dominance among them, Lea said, a continued state focus on STEM education and a continued flow of money.

"We need to ensure NASA and the Department of Defense budget funding and programs and missions that Colorado companies are involved with continue to be funded," Lea said. "We also need to make sure we're not only importing talent but also growing our own aerospace engineers here."

Colorado also has an entrepreneurial spirit that is bolstered by the state's commitment to helping grow advanced technology and a combination of federal and state programs providing seed money for up-and-coming companies.

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Colorado remains at the top of national aerospace employment in 2014