Douglas County’s economic picture continues to brighten as more companies and people decide to move into the county.
Patty Silverstein, president and chief economist of Development Research Partners, who oversaw the study of the county’s economic standing for the second quarter of 2013, said Douglas County’s employment rate has been rising much faster than the rest of the Denver metro region last year and this year. She said employment has risen 8 percent during the first quarter of this year, compared to 3.7 percent for the rest of the region. The unemployment rate in the county also has dropped from 6.5 percent in the second quarter of last year to 5.6 percent for the same period this year.
“Douglas County has certainly seen more new jobs and certainly been an area that has experienced some very nice job announcements throughout the first six months of the year,” Silverstein said.
She also said retail sales have increased faster than the rest of the region, with a 6.1 percent increase this year. Within that, e-commerce increased 44.7 percent over last year, and sporting goods, hobby, book and music stores increased 22.7 percent this year in the county.
The county’s housing market showed better numbers than metro Denver, with 25.4 percent more single-family homes sold than in the second quarter of 2012. Silverstein said metro Denver has posted some of the highest home sales on record and a lot of those have taken place in Douglas County.
Home prices in the county also have increased by 7.9 percent compared to second quarter last year. There also was a 9.3 percent increase from last year in the number of homes sold, from 517 to 565 single-family homes.
In 2012, office vacancies were at 9.2 percent, and in second quarter 2013 they’re down to 7.4 percent, which Silverstein said shows more companies are wanting to locate or relocate in the county. Silverstein also said the vacancy rate is down to 4.5 percent in the county, compared to 6.4 percent in the rest of metro Denver.
County commissioner Jill Repella said all the county has expedited the building permit process, invested in infrastructure and let business owners waive the personal property business tax, which she said has resulted in more businesses coming in. She said the county really hasn’t done a lot but lay a foundation on which businesses can succeed.
“Our ability and commitment to business to do that has gone a long long way,” Repella said.
She also said the drop in unemployment represents 7,300 additional jobs, which means 7,300 families who can move into a booming housing market.
John Brackney, president and CEO of South Metro Denver Chamber, said it’s a natural progression for the success of the Denver Tech Center to move to Douglas County, but that also the county has been doing a great job of “landing the big boys and girls” with seven of the top nine Fortune 500 companies being located in south metro Denver.
“Douglas County has been very assertive, and that’s the county commissioners saying, ‘We’re open for business,’ ” Brackney said.
He also said the sense of the business community in Douglas County is that there’s even more economic success to come.
Clayton Woullard: 303-954-2671 or cwoullard@denverpost.com
