Local economists and industry experts attempted to diagnose the Montezuma County economy in a Regional Economic Summit in Cortez on Wednesday.
Keynote speaker was Robert “Tino” Sonora, a professor of economics at Fort Lewis College, compared the most recent data on the Montezuma County economy to the rest of Colorado and the U.S. as a whole. Other speakers, including Chelsea Jones of the Montezuma Community Economic Development Association, real estate agent Bob Toles, Four Corners Community Bank president Steve Slagle and Montezuma farmer Tim Lanier, spoke about issues facing their own fields of expertise. The audience, which included about 50 Cortez government officials, real estate agents and business owners, filled the event room in First National Bank, which helped sponsor the summit.
According to Sonora, the unemployment rate in Montezuma County is at about 5.5 percent, a number that hasn’t changed much in the past 8 years. What has changed is the number of people who are considered to be part of the county’s labor force, which has been in a slight decline since 2008. Sonora said that’s because the number of county residents over the retirement age is increasing.
“This could actually be sort of a drag on your economic growth in this county,” Sonora said. “With less people working here, you’re going to have less output.”
Montezuma County residents also earn less than the state average. The average income in the county is about $43,000, compared with just over $59,000 in the state. But all those numbers tend to go up and down several times every year, depending on factors like tourism season and crop prices.
Sonora said he “struggle(s) to be optimistic” about the economic future of Montezuma and the surrounding counties, but he also said the U.S. economy, which has improved greatly since the 2008 recession, will have a big impact on small communities that don’t have very strong economies themselves.
“You’re more susceptible to the winds of global policy,” he said.
Jones who praised the county commissioners’ recent decision to join the state’s Rural Jump-Start program, offering tax benefits to businesses that move to the area.
Farmer Lanier said he expects to see more specialized, niche-market producers in Montezuma County as small farmers make gains.
The summit was sponsored by First National Bank and the Four Corners Builders Association, who hope to make it an annual event.