There was a day, and Pueblo and southern Coloradans still talk about it, when the city’s economic climate was sunny almost every day of the year. And why wouldn’t it be? The steel mill, an industry that symbolized Pueblo, was cranking out enough heavy metal to employ as many as 10,000 workers, some of whom traveled from as far away as northern New Mexico and eastern Kansas for the good paying jobs. But that memory is, as they say, ‘so 20th century.’
Pueblo, Colorado’s city with broad shoulders, say its boosters, has everything an employer might want or need to set down roots and make it home. They boast about its great weather—the town is often called ‘the buckle’ of Colorado’s temperate banana belt. It’s also geographically situated next to an interstate highway and with an abundance of rail ready to move just about anything to or through the state and across the country. Yet, it struggles.
The most recent employment data show Pueblo with the state’s highest unemployment rate at 6.4 percent, a figure nearly twice as high as some Denver metro area cities. The only metro area community even close to Pueblo’s jobless number is Adams County whose jobless rate sits at 4.9 percent. Still, at 6.4 percent, the city is a long way from its 2021 high of 9.3 percent. The state average is 4.8 percent.
But Pueblo is not a ‘half-empty’ kind of town, said Jeff Shaw, CEO of the Pueblo Economic Development Corp. Shaw, a Pueblo native, sees opportunity in every direc- tion for the city. “There are still a lot of opportunities for people to be hired and get back into the workforce,” he said in an interview with the Pueblo Chieftain. “Entry level jobs,” for example, “have doubled in pay in the last two to three years.” Some local employers are offering up to $18 an hour plus benefits for entry-level production line and packaging jobs.
Pueblo has found good success in offering economic incentives to companies to move here. Money generated from Pueblo’s half-cent fund for economic development makes it possible to, if not lure them then at least get companies to take the time to learn what it has to offer.
In October, Pueblo and Ecological Materials, announced plans for the company to move its operations from Arizona to Pueblo. The company recycles plastics into materials that can be used in road building. It will employ 17 full time workers with average wages of $44,800 plus benefits.
Also in an October 2021 news release, PEDCO announced that Boreas Campers, a maker of custom, off-road and off-grid camper trailers will soon be calling Pueblo home. In heralding the move, Boreas owner, Matt Reichel, cited Pueblo’s “access to the outdoors, and the bustling downtown” as significant reasons for its move. The company will add 29 full-time workers to Pueblo’s economy at a ‘pre-benefit’ salary of $56,900.
Armstrong Steel also announced in October that it will be relocating from Denver and opening a 200,000 sq. ft manufacturing facility in Pueblo in 2022. In making the announcement, Armstrong CEO, Ethan Chumly, cited Pueblo’s workforce and economic environment as key reasons for the move. “Armstrong’s Pueblo factory is a logical and necessary step toward strengthening the company’s competitive position in the marketplace,” said Chumly.
Armstrong Steel will hire 51 full-time workers at an average salary of $51,400 (pre-benefit). Part of the lure for the steel maker was Pueblo’s $1.2 million dollar economic incentive, money dedicated to business expansion into the city. The money requires approval by the Pueblo City Council.
The steel company manufactures pre-engineered metal buildings and has been in business for fifteen years. Its products include everything from metal sheds, barns, commercial and religious buildings. Its products have been shipped across the United States and to countries around the world. The company said it will be ‘fully operational’ in 2022.
