Greeley employers ‘go west,’ vacating downtown property

Horace Greeley’s exhortation to “Go west, young man,” found renewed relevance in the late 1990s as longtime commercial residents began to pick up roots and move toward the city’s western edge.

In the spring of 1999, State Farm Insurance announced plans to relocate its regional office from Evans to the new Promontory development in west Greeley. In short order it was followed by ConAgra Inc., now called Swift & Co.

What the westward expansion means for the community is, in a word, jobs, say Greeley officials. With much of the growth and development taking place along the U.S. Highway 34 corridor to…