Construction is booming in the Durango area, creating hundreds of new jobs as firms add payroll to meet strong demand for building.
The construction industry accounted for a staggering 59 percent of all new jobs created in La Plata County during a 15-month period from Jan. 1, 2013, to March 31. The data comes from the Colorado Department of Labor and Employment.
Roger Zalneraitis, executive director of the La Plata County Economic Development Alliance, recently presented the data to Leadership La Plata.
He said the data is "borderline unbelievable," but nevertheless, it's entirely possible given growth in residential construction.
Of 964 new jobs created in the county during the 15-month period, construction contributed 565 jobs, according to the Department of Labor and Employment.
Much of the growth comes from construction subcontractors.
"We've basically doubled our workforce," said Mark Isham, owner of Four Corners Roofing & Sheet Metal in Durango. The subcontractor now employs 28.
Isham said some of the new hires are "younger guys getting into the workforce," while others moved into roofing from other skilled trades, such as carpentry.
His business has been busy working in Edgemont Highlands, Three Springs, Castle Rock and Glacier Club, Isham said. The business has also continued to repair roofs from Bayfield to Redmesa that were damaged in a hail storm in September 2013.
The bump in construction activity has had other effects. At Alpine Lumber Co., sales are up 15 percent from last year, general manager Eric Marr said.
"There's a lot of stuff going on," he said. "It looks like into the fall and early winter, it's going to be busy here."
Average wages in the industry were $44,000 per year, a decrease from $47,000. Zalneraitis said the drop could stem from a rise in residential construction, which tends to pay less than other kinds of construction.
Building permits for single-family homes leapt from 22 through the first nine months of 2012 to 47 for the same period in 2013 in the city of Durango. Through September, 2014 saw much the same as a year earlier, with 50 permits issued.
In addition to the rush in residential construction, Durango has seen several major commercial projects, including Mercury Village and SoundTraxx's new Tech Center headquarters.
The industry now employs 2,450 employees in the county, according to the state data.
In another positive economic sign, employment growth of 4.2 percent doubled the rate of population growth.
One note of caution: Construction is highly sensitive to the vagaries of the real-estate economy, and jobs can come and go quickly.
Construction "is a lot more cyclical," Zalneraitis said. "If we have a downturn, these jobs are at risk of going away more quickly than the economy overall."
cslothower@durangoherald.com
