Baby boomers, Gas Boom to Fuel Growth in Mountain Resort Counties
Summit Daily News
By The Associated Press
October 29, 2007
Glenwood Springs – Baby boomers buying second homes and a booming gas industry will send the collective populations of Pitkin, Eagle and Garfield counties soaring through 1025, the states senior demographer said.
The Colorado Department of Local Affairs projects that Pitkin, Garfield and Eagle counties combined will grow from 116,500 people in 2005 to 220,000 by 2025, almost doubling, demographer Jim Westkott said Friday.
Baby boomers, who are starting to retire, will continue to be a major “economic drivers” in Colorado resort counties, despite tighter lending practices and a cool down in the real estate market, he said at Healthy Mountain Communities’ fifth annual State of the Valley symposium.
Nationally, the growth rate has been slightly less than 1 percent annually throughout the decade, Westkott said. The combined annual growth rate of Pitkin, Garfield and Eagle counties was 3.6 percent.
“Anything above (3 percent) can be explosive,” Westkott said.
The economies of Pitkin and Eagle counties are driven by second-home activity.
Garfield County’s growth has been fueled by both the natural gas boom and second home purchases. The Department of Local Affairs estimates the number of workers for gas companies will peak at about 5,500 in 2017, “then ease off.” Westkott said.
If oil shale research and development proves fruitful and leads to commercial production, another surge will sweep through Garfield County, he said.
Despite the population hikes, the number of new jobs will outpace the numbers of workers. “We’ve got labor shortages of all kinds throughout the state,“ Westkott said.
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