Higher wages still goal for Springs economy

A good economy and the good jobs and income that come with it are not guaranteed to last forever. Just as lack of hunger after a meal makes us forget about food, so the lack of economic problems during good times make us forget that sustaining a good economy requires attention and effort.

Local leaders from several community organizations, including the City of Colorado Springs, El Paso County, the EDC, Colorado Springs Chamber of Commerce, Pikes Peak Community College, University of Colorado at Colorado Springs and Colorado Springs Utilities have completed a year of research into international, national and local economic factors. This research included conducting hundreds of hours of local focus groups involving numerous citizens and organizations.

The report and its recommendations tell us much about our economy and what we should do to sustain good times. A cross-section of local business, government, and academic leaders concluded the area's economic development efforts should focus on increasing residents' income.

To develop a strategy to reach that goal, we need to understand local demographic and economic conditions. The Colorado Springs area offers a high quality of life that has attracted a highly educated labor force and a healthy economy with a strong and growing technology industry, but there is more to understand.

Local population growth in recent years has been fueled mostly by the region's quality of life, not by economic development efforts. Those efforts have been succeeded in providing enough employment opportunities for all existing and new residents. What still remains to be done, however, is creating enough high-wage jobs for residents with an income that matches their skills. A new strategy is needed for that goal.

Our research found local residents are among the youngest and most educated of the 13 cities with which we most often compete for jobs that pay well. Ironically, residents have the lowest effective household buying income, at 14 percent below the national average, among the 13 cities.

The low income is the product of sub-par wages in every sector except the military, which ranks first due to many high-ranking personnel stationed here. Among the 13 cities, wages here rank 13th in retailing, 11th in services, 10th in manufacturing and construction, and ninth in local government.

A new strategy is needed to improve on the area's strengths and weaknesses. Colorado Springs' strongest selling points to businesses are its highly educated labor force, high-quality public elementary and secondary schools, competitive office space costs and low electricity rates.

The area's liabilities include the limited availability and high cost of industrial facilities, above average shipping costs, sub-par air passenger transportation services and a low business profile.

Our research indicates that the area's most desirable, and feasible, targets for economic growth, are software development firms, manufacturers of electronics equipment and components (including computers) and of medical and laboratory instruments and equipment.

The area's best chance to bring headquarters operations and the higher salaries they bring is to foster start-up businesses, despite the area's lack of a strong track record of successful start-ups. The good news is that we are doing better. Several recent national publications have recently identified Colorado Springs as a city with substantial potential for technology start-up firms.

The new strategy produced by our research includes 17 recommendations: more support for technology start-up businesses; more sensible property taxation; improved workforce development; faster processing of facility permits; more spending on roads, highways and air service; more upscale hotels; improved telecommunications and a better business image for the area.

The next step: Organizations that influence the area's economic health need to continue working together to follow these recommendations and meet the goal of better-paying jobs. If the goal is reached by 2010, Springs workers will have well-paying jobs, employers will have well-educated employees, government will have a healthy tax base to finance public services and our quality of life will remain high.

- Robert Scott is president of the Greater Colorado Springs Economic Development Corp.

Next week: Robin Murray Krug on the job hunt.

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