Economy & Economic Development  January 29, 2015

Northern Colorado, Denver area see rise in health, energy employment

The Denver metro area and Northern Colorado have seen growing employment in the health care and energy industries, according to a report released Thursday by the Metro Denver Economic Development Corp.

The report looked at industry activity statewide, as well as in Weld, Larimer, Boulder, Broomfield, Jefferson, Denver, Douglas, Arapahoe and Adams counties.

In the nine-county region, the fossil fuels industry, which includes oil and natural gas development, ranked fourth of the 50 largest metro areas nationwide for fossil fuel employment concentration in 2014.

About 1,500 fossil fuels companies operate in the nine-county region employing about 30,000 people. Employment grew by 38 percent from 2009 to 2014. Denver County companies employed more than half of those workers while Weld employed about 18 percent. Adams County employed 11 percent.

The cleantech industry, which includes solar, wind and biomass, had nearly 20,000 employees and more than 1,500 companies last year. Between 2009 and 2014, the region’s cleantech employment rose 22.5 percent, compared with 14.9 percent nationwide.

About a third of cleantech workers were employed in Jefferson County, followed by Boulder County at 18 percent. Denver County and Larimer County both had about 13 percent of the cleantech employees.

The energy industry employs 71,000 workers earning $6.4 billion and an additional 180,000 workers that provide support services earning another $9.2 billion.

The health care and wellness industry, another growing sector in Metro Denver and Northern Colorado, directly employed 193,000 employees in 2014. Industry employees rose 5 percent year over year in the nine-county region. From 2009 to 2014, sector employment rose 21 percent.

Denver County employed more than a quarter of health care workers, while Jefferson County employed 12 percent. Boulder County employed about 11 percent; Larimer County employed 9 percent.

About 18,160 health care and wellness companies operated in the nine-county region in 2014.

The Denver metro area and Northern Colorado have seen growing employment in the health care and energy industries, according to a report released Thursday by the Metro Denver Economic Development Corp.

The report looked at industry activity statewide, as well as in Weld, Larimer, Boulder, Broomfield, Jefferson, Denver, Douglas, Arapahoe and Adams counties.

In the nine-county region, the fossil fuels industry, which includes oil and natural gas development, ranked fourth of the 50 largest metro areas nationwide for fossil fuel employment concentration in 2014.

About 1,500 fossil fuels companies operate in the nine-county region employing about 30,000 people. Employment grew by 38 percent…

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