Economic development is now more important than ever. What has been happening in the oil path is just another wake up call.
Oil and gas has been responsible for 62 percent of our county tax revenue. When oil dropped below $50 a barrel, oil companies considered themselves no longer profitable. With the increase of oil extraction from shale, the United States started producing a glut. Saudi Arabia determined to offset that, dropped its prices and kept production up. Oil should recover in the next year or two, but by then major damage will already have been inflicted on the oil industry, with $500 billion in loans that are said to be outstanding.
All of this has been compounded by China, Russia and Iran – which can produce oil for $8.75 per barrel: They are determined to trade oil in the China’s yuan, which was accepted in July by the International Monetary Fund as one of the leading world reserve currencies, along with the dollar, euro, yen, and pound.
In other words, don’t look for oil to rebound any time soon.
Competition for jobs is becoming an increasing challenge. Technology through robotics has been eliminating many well-paying jobs. Outsourcing to other countries eliminated a lot of middle- and lower-paying jobs. The U.S. economy is in itself transitioning into a new world economy. But what that is can be anyone’s guess. At some point in time the economy will almost have to reinvent itself and probably will through new technologies. On the local front we will have to fight for our survival. Of course we have had a long history in agriculture, which has been stable. Tourism, of course, has been responsible for up to $45 million being spent in the area.
Our Montezuma County Economic Development Agency is working to enhance existing business but we need to take responsibility and make it our number one priority to attract new business to our area –businesses that will complement our county.
We need to work together to attract prosperity, and promote long-term growth.
Bill Utrup
Cortez