2014 forecast mixed with good and bad

BOULDER – Boulder County residents are the “foodiest,” the happiest and the healthiest in the nation, based on various metrics and national accolades presented Thursday at the Boulder Economic Council’s “2014 Economic Forecast: Boulder & Beyond.”

But the county’s economy may be negatively impacted by recovery efforts following devastating floods in September 2013 and “headwinds” facing state sales-tax revenue collections, speakers said.

On the plus side, a $5.8 billion appropriation to the National Science Foundation’s research and development budget for 2014 is expected to positively impact the region’s many federal labs and the University of Colorado at Boulder, said Bill Farland, immediate…