Seldom have there been heard fewer discouraging words about business and labor conditions in Mesa County.

Growing gains come with growing pains — chief among them a tighter labor market that makes it more difficult for businesses to hire employees as well as higher housing costs. Overall, though, the news couldn’t be much better — or more welcome in a region that’s long lagged behind other areas of Colorado in recovering from the Great Recession.

Along with tapping their expertise for other stories published on a regular basis, the Business Times checks from time to time with local business leaders, owners and managers to assess their perspectives of the bigger picture of the local economy. Something of a paint-by-numbers image emerges from the labor estimates, tax collections and real estate sales that constitute important indicators. But just as valuable are the observations of people actually running businesses.

As the cover story in this very issue of the Business Times details, both the statistical and anecdotal evidence reflect improving conditions. Asked whether he considered the proverbial economic glass half empty or half full, one businessman put it this way: The glass is getting bigger.

There are some encouraging economic fundamentals in play.

For starters, the jobless rate keeps decreasing even as the labor force keeps increasing. It’s a diverging trend that reflects growing labor demand in a more diversified economy. It’s not that the energy sector is booming — it’s not — or hiring has picked up in the health care sector. There are job openings across the board.

Improving labor conditions, in turn, promote increased retail sales and real estate activity. People with steady paychecks and job security are more apt spend that money — whether that’s on clothing, electronic gadgets or sports equipment or such sizable purchases as cars and even homes. Consequently, local sales tax collections have increased, as have real estate transactions and the dollar volume of those deals.

At the same time, Mesa County remains well-positioned to take advantage of another trend, and that’s the migration of people and businesses from urban areas to rural areas that offer lower costs and better lifestyles.

It used to be a lot of the people relocating to Mesa County from Denver and the Front Range were retirees who sold their old homes, bought better homes and enjoyed the mild climate and easy access to health care providers. Now, people of all ages are coming to Mesa County — some with jobs, but some not — to escape big city congestion and pursue their favorite outdoor recreational activities.

Some of those people are entrepreneurs who’ve brought with them new business ventures. But the growing population has attracted additional business.
A commercial real estate broker foresees dramatic growth in retail leases and sales, increased commercial and industrial construction and more engineering and information technology firms.

Finally, there’s notion nothing encourages success quite like success. There’s a growing realization the valley really is grand and offers something attractive, something unique and ultimately a desirable place to live and work. It’s a changing mindset after years of frustration associated with a stubbornly slow recovery.

Challenges remain, of course, formidable ones. But improving business and labor conditions afford the opportunity to deal with more than matters of survival in addressing bigger community issues.

After years of discouraging words, more encouraging words are welcome.