2012 Arapahoe and Douglas County Regional Profile

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1 Geography Together, Arapahoe and Douglas counties make up the southeast portion of the Denver Metro Area, which also includes Adams, Broomfield, Clear Creek, Denver, Elbert, Gilpin and Jefferson counties. Arapahoe County is 806 square miles in area, and was first incorporated as part of the Kansas Territory in It was one of the original 17 counties when the Colorado Territory was organized in 1861, and is currently the third most populous of the 64 counties now in Colorado. Douglas County is 842 square miles in area, and was ranked number 1 among the nation s counties for the rate of population growth during the 1990s, but had fallen to 10 th in the nation by March It is one of only four counties in the Western United States in the top 10 growth list, and the only county in Colorado in the top 10. Economy Description Jobs, Earnings and Sales, Arapahoe/Douglas Region Jobs Percent of Metro Denver Worker Earnings (In Thousands) Percent of Metro Denver Sales (In Thousands) Percent of Metro Denver Agriculture, Forestry, Fishing and Hunting 2,119 28% $ 65,440 32% $ 230,935 32% Mining, Quarrying, and Oil and Gas Extraction 8,817 36% $ 604,820 23% $ 2,541,942 22% Utilities % $ 60,479 12% $ 317,782 11% Construction 29,219 34% $ 1,764,155 35% $ 3,828,291 35% Manufacturing 11,800 17% $ 756,476 14% $ 3,232,412 12% Wholesale Trade 19,767 28% $ 2,049,375 33% $ 4,610,135 33% Retail Trade 57,576 38% $ 1,879,073 38% $ 4,178,026 38% Transportation and Warehousing 9,444 16% $ 513,555 15% $ 1,093,018 13% Information 24,578 49% $ 2,395,945 48% $ 11,849,067 49% Finance and Insurance 59,156 48% $ 4,360,833 48% $ 14,335,486 48% Real Estate and Rental and Leasing 33,420 40% $ 979,154 36% $ 6,914,353 34% Professional, Scientific, and Technical Services 59,296 37% $ 4,571,647 36% $ 7,937,036 35% Management of Companies and Enterprises 10,151 36% $ 1,665,087 40% $ 2,975,532 40% Administrative and Support and Waste Mana 38,518 35% $ 1,437,346 36% $ 2,686,482 35% Educational Services 10,786 28% $ 360,805 25% $ 631,348 26% Health Care and Social Assistance 50,022 34% $ 2,821,714 35% $ 5,082,156 35% Arts, Entertainment, and Recreation 14,603 34% $ 349,013 28% $ 730,033 28% Accommodation and Food Services 33,097 29% $ 704,568 27% $ 1,969,501 27% Other Services (except Public Administration) 23,562 34% $ 883,724 35% $ 1,729,075 34% Government 48,944 26% $ 2,953,035 23% $ 5,383,581 22% Totals 545,344 33% $ 31,176,244 33% $ 82,256,191 32% Source: EMSI Complete Employment,

2 Sector Financial & Insurance Information Real Estate, Rental & Leasing Aerospace/Aviation/Defense Biosciences/Healthcare Engineering Top Companies (1,000+ Employed) Wells Fargo Bellco Credit Union Anthem Blue Cross Blue Shield Great West Life & Annuity Dish Network Corporation DirecTV Sprint Call Center Local Insight Media Holdings Home Real Estate ReMax Corporate Headquarters ReMax International ADT Security Services Argus Corporate Security Jeppesen, Inc. Lockheed Martin Space Systems Littleton Adventist Hospital Medical Center of Aurora Sky Ridge Medical Center Swedish Medical Center CH2M Hill TRW Stone & Webster The two-county Arapahoe/Douglas region makes up approximately 1/3 of the Denver Metro Area s jobs, worker earnings and gross receipts. The region is an information and finance hub, with nearly half of the Denver Metro Area s employment in those sectors. It also has high concentrations of employment in real estate, retail, and professional, scientific & technical sectors. Labor Force The workforce in Arapahoe and Douglas counties is diverse and highly skilled. Educational attainment is well above the national average, with 42.5% having a Bachelors degree or higher, and over 92% with at least a high school diploma or equivalency. Educational Attainment: Population 25 or Older N=530,970 Graduate or professional degree Bachelor's degree Associate's degree 46,735 28,660 25,689 14,395 88,455 62,128 Some college, no degree 82,295 37,923 Since the area is a hub for finance and information sectors, and has strong representation in biosciences, healthcare, aerospace, aviation, defense and engineering, the labor force reflects those industry and occupational skills. High school graduate (includes equivalency) 9th to 12th grade, no diploma Less than 9th grade 0 79,499 24,340 22,028 2,924 14,524 1,375 20,000 40,000 60,000 80, , , , ,000 Arapahoe County Douglas County - 2 -

3 The region boasts a robust skilled labor pipeline, with over 47,000 students in the area are enrolled in high school and over 48,000 in regional colleges and universities. The occupational skills base of the two-county labor force is primarily management, professional, business, financial, sales related and office operations. Representation in technical, maintenance, installation and construction occupations is centered in other counties within the Denver-Aurora Metro Area. Occupational Skills Breakdown: Population 25 and Over N=434,541 Management, professional, and related occupations Sales and office occupations Service occupations Construction, extraction, maintenance and repair occupations Production, transportation, and material moving occupations Farming, fishing, and forestry occupations Arapahoe County Douglas County 140, , ,000 80,000 60,000 Combined Arapahoe & Douglas County Age Range With a median age of 35 years, the Arapahoe/Douglas region offers businesses an age-diverse and competitive workforce balanced between young and more mature workers. 40,000 20,000 This, coupled with a robust, diversified local economy, and strong 0 5 to 14 years 15 to 24 years 25 to 34 years 35 to 44 years 45 to 54 years 55 to 59 years Arapahoe County Douglas County 60 to 64 years 65 to 74 years infrastructure, ensures that businesses have ready access to the broad base of skilled workers necessary for 21 st Century competitiveness

4 Current Employment Situation Area Regional Employment December 2011 Civilian Labor Force Number Employed Number Unemployed Unemployment Rate Arapahoe County 311, ,689 24, % Douglas County 159, ,278 9, % Arapahoe/Douglas Combined 471, ,967 33, % Denver Metropolitan Area 1,391,518 1,278, , % Colorado 2,719,312 2,504, , %. United States 153,887, ,790,000 13,097, % Sources: U.S. Bureau Labor Statistics, Colorado Department of Labor & Employment Infrastructure As a regional and national business center for both private and public organizations in the United States, the Denver Metro area has become an important communication, transportation and distribution hub regionally, nationally and globally. Communication Colorado has the nation's 10th-highest use of broadband Internet, according to Commerce Department and census data, and virtually every household and business in the Denver Metro area can access broadband service. Denver s central location in the US means you can talk to someone in Asia or Europe in the same business day. Because of its unique geographic location on the 105th meridian, Denver is the only major city in the United States offering single-relay, one-bounce uplinks to world satellite networks and realtime connections to six out of seven continents in a single business day. Top information sector companies in the Arapahoe/Douglas region include Qwest, Time Warner, MediaOne Group, Echostar, and Sprint. Transportation & Distribution The Denver Metro Area is a national and international transportation hub. Transportation and warehousing companies located in the northern portion of the area along the I-70 corridor offer businesses throughout the region easy access to truck transportation. Denver International Airport is the fifth busiest airport in the United States, carrying over 50 million passengers in 2009, and 35.1 million passengers through August Arapahoe County is home to Centennial Airport, the third busiest general aviation airport in the United States. Centennial Airport handles nonstop flights to Beijing, Moscow, Tokyo, Amsterdam, London and Paris, and serves a variety of Fortune 500 companies on a regular basis, including General Electric, Wal-Mart, and - 4 -

5 Lockheed Martin. With such a comprehensive transportation infrastructure, many businesses have chosen to headquarter close by. Companies that have established corporate headquarters or divisions in the Denver Metro Area recently include TriZetto Group Inc., Juwi (wind energy), American Zephyr, Dot Hill Systems, Ascent Solar Technologies, Vestas Wind Systems, and United Launch Alliance. Siemens Energy, Inc. R&D, Bach Composite Industry, Taptu Ltd., and Aluwind chose this region for their first U.S. offices, and RE Power USA Corp. opened its U.S. headquarters in the metro area. Other companies headquartered in the Arapahoe/Douglas region include TSA Corporate Services, HSS Systems of Virginia, Safeway Stores, Newmont International Services and Columbia HCA s Denver division office. Energy Oil & Gas: The Arapahoe/Douglas region is a significant state hub for the oil and gas industry. In 2009, the region had over 13% of the state s jobs in this industry and boasted over 14% of the state s total gross receipts. In 2000, Colorado ranked 10 th of all states in crude oil production and 6 th in the nation in natural gas production. Colorado is ranked 7 th in proven natural gas reserves and 11 th in crude oil reserves. In addition, Colorado sits on oil shale reserves total 1.5 trillion barrels of oil; more than five times the stated oil reserves of Saudi Arabia. The blog Daily Reckoning cites the Rand Corporation saying, The technical groundwork may be in place for a fundamental shift in oil shale economics. Advances in thermally conductive in-situ conversion may enable shale-derived oil to be competitive with crude oil at prices below $40 per barrel. If this becomes the case, oil shale development may soon occupy a very prominent position in the national energy agenda. Renewable: The Denver Metro Area is home to the National Renewable Energy Laboratory, which has helped position Colorado as a hub in renewable energy resources. A five-year agreement between NASA and the Colorado Association for Manufacturing and Technology was announced on December 14, 2010 that will provide support to businesses throughout Colorado to quicken the development to marketplace of clean energy technologies. This partnership, which also includes the National Renewable Energy Laboratory in Golden, is expected to bring over 10,000 aerospace and clean technology jobs to Colorado by Colorado is a clean state that is emerging as a leader in wind and solar power generation. The Danish wind turbine company Vestas has invested $700 million in Colorado and brought three major manufacturing facilities and 2,500 jobs. Aluwind, a sister Danish company that produces parts for Vestas wind turbines, has also located a manufacturing facility in Colorado. The Denver Metro Area is the seventh sunniest city in the United States, with 300 sunny days per year, and has become home to a number of solar panel manufacturers and solar installation companies. Germanbased solar manufacturer SMA is presently building a 153,000 sq. ft. plant in Denver that will employ 300 people. Other prominent solar companies include the U.S. headquarters of Abangoa Solar and Ascent Solar Technologies

6 Commuting & Public Transit Interstate 25 runs through Arapahoe and Douglas counties, with easy access to I-70 through I-225 and E-470. The recent T-Rex project widened I-25 significantly and reduced volume slowing significantly. The population in the two-county area enjoys an easy average 26.6 minute commute. In addition, the FasTracks project now offers light rail north along I-25 from Lincoln Avenue in northern Douglas county, and along Santa Fe Drive from Mineral Avenue all the way to downtown Denver. By 2016, lines will connect to Boulder in the northwest and Denver International Airport. Housing & Cost of Living According to the US Census, 2010 median family income in Arapahoe County is $70,179 and in Douglas County is $104,816. Per capita incomes in Arapahoe and Douglas counties, respectively, are $30,692 and $39,228. The median value of a home in Arapahoe county is $225,000 and in Douglas county is $329,400. Both Arapahoe and Douglas counties offer affordable housing along major arterials to enable ready access to the labor pool at all levels. Cost of living in the Denver metropolitan area is 1.06 times the national average. Education The Arapahoe/Douglas region boasts three public school districts that rank in top 15% of K-12 Colorado schools. The region is also home to two public community colleges and a vocational school, as well as a variety of public and private colleges and universities. According to US Census surveys, an estimated 48,668 people in Arapahoe and Douglas counties are enrolled in higher education institutions. Business Climate Colorado boasts a top tier business climate. It offers a variety of business incentives, including industry job training assistance, and several tax credits, refunds and incentives. Proximity One.com rates the Denver Metro Area s situation and outlook 28 th of 363 metropolitan areas throughout the United States. The Milken Institute ranks it 12 th in relative concentration of high tech industries. According to the Public Policy Institute, Colorado ranks 13 th overall in the nation in favorable business climate, and 6 th lowest in the nation for property taxes. Many different kinds of help are available to businesses in Arapahoe and Douglas counties, including workforce development centers, chambers of commerce, economic developers, small business development centers, economic gardeners, minority business assistance, incubators, small business loans, and venture and angel capital firms. Other resources can be found here. Data Sources Arapahoe County Public Airport Authority City Data.com Colorado County Treasurer & Public Trustee Associations Colorado Department of Labor and Employment Labor Market Information Division (LMI Gateway) Denver Regional Council of Governments Douglas County Colorado EMSI Complete Employment 4 th Quarter 2010 Metro Denver Economic Development Corporation Milken Institute Public Policy Institute of New York, Inc. Small Business Survival Index U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics U.S. Department of Commerce U.S. Census Bureau - 6 -