Gov. John Hickenlooper took the stage in Philadelphia Thursday just an hour before Hillary Clinton accepted the nomination for president at the Democratic National Convention.

The brewpub-owner-turned-politician tried to hit a quick, light cord that tore down Republican nominee Donald Trump while building up Clinton.

“I’ve never hosted a reality TV show but I know the true mark of a successful businessman is not the number of times you say you’re fired, it’s the number of times you say you’re hired,” Hickenlooper said, taking a dig at Trump’s TV show “The Apprentice.” “Unlike Trump’s businesses, my businesses didn’t go bankrupt six times.”

The governor didn’t pause for applause or laughter but plowed right into his plug for Denver’s urban revitalization, which began after Hickenlooper opened the Wynkoop Brewing Co. in an abandoned warehouse district nearly 30 years ago.

“More entrepreneurs arrived and the neighborhood took off and so did Denver,” Hickenlooper said. “As Hillary Clinton says, ‘it takes a village’ … she understands that even in Colorado, land of rugged individualism, our economy is stronger together.”

Today, he said, Denver is the fastest-growing big city in the U.S. and has the second-strongest economy in the country.

His emphasis on business isn’t surprising to anyone who has heard Hickenlooper on his own campaign trail in a swing state where he is considered a somewhat moderate Democrat.

And it’s one of the reasons he likely was in the running for the vice presidential spot on Clinton’s ticket right up until the final days.

Colorado is getting attention from both major candidates. It’s a battleground state that could go either way in November.

Other swing-state leaders invited to speak Thursday before Clinton included Ohio Rep. Tim Ryan and Pennsylvanian Gov. Tom Wolf.

Earlier in the day, Colorado’s state House Majority Leader Crisanta Duran talked about the diversity of her family that has called Colorado home for six generations.

“We share a unique heritage built on the promise of progress you can only find in the American West. I come from Native American and Mexican decedents,” said Duran, who is a possible pick for Speaker of the House in 2017. “French trappers and Spanish pioneers. I come from ranchers who continue to harvest the land and laborers like my grandfather Ernest who worked in … a steel mill in Pueblo for 33 years to provide for his family.”

Duran said she is proof the U.S. is a country “where anything is possible and where everyone is included.”

Senate Minority Leader Lucia Guzman made a brief DNC appearance via video conference.

Hickenlooper might have been passed over for vice president, but his appearance Thursday night and his recent spree of national interviews has many suggesting Clinton may tap him for a cabinet position if she wins in November.

He praised Clinton’s plans for the economy, saying they’ve had several conversations about it.

“From a small business perspective, she gets it,” he said. “She’s going to make the largest investment in jobs since World War II.”

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Contact Megan Schrader: 286-0644

Twitter: @CapitolSchrader

Gov. John Hickenlooper of Colorado speaks during the final day of the Democratic National Convention in Philadelphia , Thursday, July 28, 2016. (AP Photo/Paul Sancya)

Paul Sancya

Gov. John Hickenlooper of Colorado speaks during the final day of the Democratic National Convention in Philadelphia , Thursday, July 28, 2016. (AP Photo/J. Scott Applewhite)

J. Scott Applewhite