Layoffs indicate need for eco-devo

News comes swiftly.

Electronic Fab Technology Corp. lays off 142.

Advanced Energy Industries Inc. eliminates 45 positions.Teledyne Water Pik eliminates a division, affecting 30 jobs.
Maxtor Corp. lays off 110 jobs in Longmont.
All of these events occured during the last several weeks, and they all indicate that this region can’t afford to be complacent. All too often, as we become embroiled in a recurring debate over growth, we forget how easily jobs and prosperity can slip away.
These events, by fine employers all, remind us that economic situations beyond our control could snatch our prosperity away in a heartbeat. And yes, all the above companies are engaged in a high-tech endeavor of one sort or another, indicating that this region’s increasing reliance on high-technology industries is not without its dangers.
We’ll always be faced with headlines about layoffs and other forms of downsizing. But those events should be mixed with stories of Rader Railcar entering Fort Lupton, of VAE Nortrak going into Cheyenne.
Only by bringing in new industry and helping existing ones to expand will we be able to negate the effects of job losses. We must foster a tax and regulatory climate that encourages investment. We must preserve our quality of life so that business owners recognize this as a desirable place to live. And we must create reasonable economic-development programs.
And by bringing in new jobs, we insulate ourselves so that the loss of a few dozen jobs here, a few dozen there, won’t be felt all that much.
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